If you could get to them in time to sit them up, or to massage their
heart, it was sometimes possible to get the heart started again.
Sudden death at night was a rather frequent occurrence. Many American
trained cardiologists still consider beriberi heart disease as a
reversible condition, but some ex-P.O.W.s still have the same
irregularities.
Pellagra: Pellagra was common, manifest by conjunctivitis, glossitis,
amblyopia, angular stomatitis, geographic tongues (often with deep
grooves and severe sensitivity), and scrotal dermatitis of varying
degrees including sloughing. There was increased pigmentation of the
skin sometimes patchy.
Xerophthalmia: Xerophthalmia and optic atrophy were seen occasionally
and often left permanent damage to vision, and sometimes complete
blindness.
Diphtheria: We had an epidemic of diphtheria some two hundred cases of
which 125 died before the Japs obtained a limited amount of antitoxin.
Most survivors had permanent residuals.
Infectious Hepatitis: We had several epidemics of infectious
hepatitis, which seemed to be self-limited. At times it was difficult
to differentiate it from malaria with jaundice following Atabrine
therapy.
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