Abstract
SINCE the report of Hench and his associates1 in 1949 pointing out that cortisone and ACTH produced remarkable improvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the attention of the medical profession has been focused on the effects of these substances in a host of diseases. Dramatic descriptions of results in various apparently unrelated illnesses have appeared with such frequency that it has been practically impossible for physicians to evaluate them critically. At the same time, reports of undesirable and sometimes alarming side effects have been disturbing. As a result many physicians have become confused about their actual value and dangers. Hence, . . .