AUTOHEMOTHERAPY IN PSYCHIATRY

BY ROBERT H. REDDICK, M.D.

In the author's preliminary observations on the use of autohemotherapy in chronic mental disorders in 1950, it was reported that twenty-five chronically ill state hospital patients were treated by reinjection of their own blood over a period of six months.

The original group consisted of thirteen schizophrenics, six involutionals, three "paranoid conditions," and one each of manic depressive psychosis, psychosis with cerebral arteriosclerosis, and psychosis due to alcohol.

Of this group, nineteen patients — or 76% — displayed a social recovery, as they were able to leave the hospital and resume their former activities. Of the six patients still requiring hospitalization at the conclusion of the treatment period: three were much better, two were somewhat better, and one remained unchanged.

Eleven out of thirteen schizophrenics (85%) improved sufficiently to no longer require hospitalization. Two-thirds of the involutional and paranoid condition patients also showed social recovery.

Within the last three decades, beneficial effects from autohemotherapy have been reported in the treatment of numerous conditions, including:

• Pulmonary tuberculosis
• Drug addiction
• Scarlet fever
• Acne, carbunculosis
• Rheumatic fever
• Various dermatoses
• Hyperemesis gravidarum
• Hormone deficiencies
• Lymphopathia venereum
• Herpes simplex and zoster
• Allergies
• Septic conditions post-miscarriage
• Urticaria, serum sickness
• Hemiplegia, bronchial asthma
• Acute chorea, leg ulcers
• Malaria, pleurisy, rabies
• Homologous serum jaundice
• Arthritis, Landry's polyradiculitis
• Poliomyelitis, diphtheritic polyneuritis
• Duodenal fistula, tuberculous peritonitis
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Menstrual and menopausal complaints
• Various pneumonias, psoriasis

These observations support the potential value of autohemotherapy in the treatment of chronic psychiatric and systemic illnesses.