THE PHYSIOLOGIC VARIATIONS IN THE INORGANIC BLOOD PHOSPHORUS CONTENT AT THE DIFFERENT AGE PERIODS

Abstract

Physiologic variation in the inorganic phosphorus content of the blood is a generally conceded fact. The blood of an infant is about twice as rich in phosphorus as adult blood; even at birth the blood phosphorus content has been found to be higher than that of the mother. But it is not definitely known what and where the phosphorus changes are, as the newly born infant passes through its infancy, childhood and adolescence to reach adult life with a blood phosphorus content of about one-half the original amount. Of the inorganic constituents of the blood, calcium and phosphorus have proved to be the most important. The importance of these elements had been hinted by various authorities in the past, but their true relationship to each other and to certain bodily functions was not definitely established until comparatively recent times. The old authorities considered that rickets was a disease due to