THE TRUTH ABOUT ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.]
SIR, When are we to know the truth about ultra-violet light ? A year or two ago medical men in all parts of the country were hailing treatment by means of " artificial sunlight," as it is popularly called, as one of the great dis- coveries of modern science. It had proved, they said, of remarkable value as a tonic, particularly during the months when we are deprived of much of the natural sunshine we enjoy in the summer, as well as being, curative in the treatment of rickets, tuberculosis, and other diseases. As a result of those claims, Hull, one of the divisions .of which I have the honour to represent in Parliament, in common with many other municipalities, installed artificial sunlight equipment in. its public baths. The baths were an immediate success, both financially and from a health point of view.
In its latest report the Medical Research Council has thought fit to condemn ultra-.violet light as an expensive and practically worthless form of treatment. This has had most unfortunate results. In Hull, the income from the municipal baths has decreased considerably in the past few months, a decrease attributed largely by the Chairman of the Baths Committee to the Medical Research Council's report. The. report, I am told, has had similar results elsewhere.
Were medical opinion in agreement with the Research, Council there would be nothing for it but to regret that municipalities had been induced to waste their money on worthless apparatus. But medical opinion is not in agree- ment. . Doctors of the very highest repute reject entirely the Council's conclusions, and continue to express their belief in the great value of ultra-violet light treatment. Is it not time that the Ministry of Health conducted a full and impartial, enquiry into the whole subject of " sunlight treatment", not for the benefit only of municipalities, but in the interests of those thousands of people who, if it is really worthless, are wasting their money on it, and those hundreds of thousands of others who, if it is really of value, are being deprived of its aid in maintaining their health ? I may say that I, personally, have derived benefit from this treatment, and so have many of my. Parliamentary colleagues.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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