The Quest for Cortisone

Chapter 12. War Looms

93 Chapter 12 War Looms Though unmusical, German is the most expressive of all languages. —sherLoCK hoLMes, “his LAsT BoW” The world was learning just how “unmusical” German could be. World War ii began with the invasion of Poland on september 1, 1939. British prime minister neville Chamberlain, in an address later that day, summed up the sense of hopelessness much of the world was feeling at the moment: We have no quarrel with the German people, except that they allow themselves to be governed by a nazi government. As long as that government exists and pursues the methods it has so persistently followed during the last two years, there will be no peace in europe. We shall merely pass from one crisis to another, and see one country after another attacked by methods which have now become familiar to us in their sickening technique.1 Although the war would be fought, for now, in europe, the Americans were not indifferent to the threat posed by Germany’s “sickening technique .” Before the onset of the first blitzkrieg, the united states was keenly interested in all things related to the nazi military machine. in early 1940 a rumor began to surface that caused particular concern. since the days of Addison and Brown-séquard, scientists believed that “cortin” from the adrenal cortex was essential for helping the body resist stress. in its absence (that is, after adrenal gland removal), animals became fragile and delicate; even minimal stressors like a sudden loud noise could kill them. it stood to reason that extra adrenal cortical hormone might help 94| Chapter 12 animals, including humans, survive stress—perhaps even stresses that would normally incapacitate or kill. it was in this setting that a certain rumor began to circulate: the claim was that the Germans had isolated cortin, and that the Luftwaffe was using it to help pilots fly at higher altitudes.2 it was widely quoted that the adrenal extract counteracted the effects of hypoxia and allowed flights to 40,000 feet or more.3 if true, this was an aviation miracle—and a significant threat to any armed forces that might oppose the Germans. These rumors spawned other rumors, the most concerning of which was that German submarines were secretly traveling back and forth between Argentina and Germany, transporting large amounts of beef adrenal glands for the sole purpose of preparing cortical extract. Although these rumors were never proven and, in retrospect, were almost certainly untrue, their mere existence demanded immediate action by the Americans. in 1941 the national research Council of the united states met and set national priorities for government-sponsored research. The impending, seemingly inevitable conflict with Germany had no small role in defining these priorities. Third on the list was the development of new antimalarials, which would be essential for supporting combat activities in tropical zones. The second priority was the creation of a program to produce penicillin, which was already seen as a miracle drug and was obviously critical to a war effort. The number one priority was the identification, isolation, and synthesis of the hormone of the adrenal cortex—cortin.4 incredibly, as America teetered on the brink of entering World War ii, it seems the u.s. government believed it necessary to meet the nazis head-on in the race to develop cortin. A committee of fourteen internationally recognized chemists was assembled to direct this research: William Mansfield Clark of Johns hopkins chaired the committee, which included James Collip of insulin fame, as well as the head of the Mayo Clinic’s biochemistry lab, edward C. Kendall. “nick” Kendall was no closer to solving the mystery of cortin, but the search had just gone from the back alleys of science to front and center stage. Walter Alvarez, now fifty-seven years old (two years older than Kendall), could offer little more than moral support in the impending war. Apparently believing that “the pen is mightier than the sword,” he continued his prolific writing and publishing. Many of his 347 articles, 329 editorials, and books/ monographs (one of which, Nervous Indigestion, sold over 35,000 copies) were written or rewritten during this time. in 1938 he became the editor of the American Journal of Digestive Diseases, and in 1941 he started a new War Looms| 95 journal called Gastroenterology; it remains the top-rated journal on digestive diseases today. Walter’s sister, Mabel Alvarez, also...