SUGAR TOLERANCE IN DEMENTIA PRAECOX AND OTHER MENTAL DISORDERS

Abstract

Normally during a fasting period the blood sugar maintains a fairly constant level. The figures for normal persons obtained by various investigators are: Bang,¹0.10 per cent.; Myers and Bailey²(500 cases), 0.09 to 0.11 per cent.; Williams and Humphrey³(thirty-nine cases), 0.11 per cent. and (seventy-four cases) 0.107 per cent.; Liefman and Stern,⁴0.105 per cent. Weston,⁵in a series of mental cases, found a blood sugar content ranging from 0.085 to 0.122 per cent., figures well within normal limits. The blood sugar content may vary from a variety of causes. Not only does diet affect the sugar concentration but, according to Lusk⁶and Strouse,⁷variations were seemingly associated with the season of the year. Emotional states are likewise associated with changes in blood sugar concentration. Such effects were demonstrated in some of our cases. This is in accord with the observation