August 14, 1943

Mr. Karl G. Jansky

Bell Telephone Laboratories

463 West Street

New York, New York

Dear Mr. Jansky:

I am pleased to tell you about the treatment which I have received for Bright's disease. I am enthusiastic about the progress which I have made, and I think that the treatment which I have received may well be the best one available.

I learned that I had Bright's disease while in New York, in March, 1941. Because pronounced edema showed that something was wrong, I went to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, where my trouble was diagnosed as Bright's disease. I was recommended to see Dr. T. Addis, Professor of Medicine at the Stanford Medial School, Clay and Webster Streets, San Francisco, California, who has conducted a clinic on Bright's disease for about twenty-five years. I came home, and for about two or three weeks adhered to a regimen given to me by Dr. Addis by telephone, and then went to San Francisco to see him. After about four months on a minimum-protein diet I became free of edema, which had amounted to about twenty-five pounds. Since then I have adhered to a minimum-protein diet, and have been restored to good health; protein urea remains, but is now about one-fifth what it was two years ago, being now three grams per day.

The principle of Dr. Addis'es [sic] treatment is that the work done by the kidney should be minimized. In addition he abolishes meat, fish, and fowl from the diet, since there is some evidence that substances in these materials are harmful. The main way of minimizing the work of the kidney is to keep the output of urea a minimum, which is achieved by having the protein intake as small as is consistent with good health; in my case this is 47 grams per day. Increase in urine volume, by drinking more water, is also helpful. Salt intake, after edema is absent, should be normal. In my case urine volume is about 3 liters and salt 12 or 15 grams per day.

I like Dr. Addis'es [sic] treatment because it seems to be reasonable, and because he seems to have had success with it over a long period of years. This has been recognized in various ways; he was given the Cullen prize by the Edinburgh College of Physicians and Surgeons, and last year he was brought east by the Commonwealth Fund to lecture about his work at the Brooklyn School of Medicine and elsewhere.

I would be glad to give you any other information that I can.

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling

LP:jr