The Treatment of Addison's Disease by Whole Adrenal Gland

Abstract

By cooling fresh suprarenal gland tissue immediately on removal from the animal, and by defatting, and mincing the same at low temperatures, and drying at 37°C. with the least loss of time, a preparation is obtained which in daily doses of 3 grm. per os, is effective in restoring a large measure of health to sufferers from Addison's disease. It is essential that a potent extract of suprarenal cortex be available for (a) restoring the patient sufficiently to enable whole gland treatment to be instituted and (b) to treat any return of abdominal symptoms or circulatory collapse induced by intercurrent illness or failure to retain the whole gland through vomiting. It is desirable to increase the intake of sodium chloride to 10 to 15 grm. daily. Neither saline alone, nor cortical extract alone produces the same effective result as whole suprarenal gland prepared as above administered per os. Commercial preparations of whole suprarenal can be entirely without effect. Subcutaneous injection of adrenalin in a phase of weakness may have disastrous results. Trials, using the whole gland preparation on normal subjects, further establish the observations of Rowntree, that the gastric musculature is stimulated by injection of whole suprarenal gland. In certain cases, considerable elevation of blood-pressure may also result.