STUDIES ON THE COMBINED USE OF MEASUREMENTS OF SWEAT ELECTROLYTE COMPOSITION AND RATE OF SWEATING AS AN INDEX OF ADRENAL CORTICAL ACTIVITY 1

Abstract

Measurements of the sweat Cl-rate index suggest strongly that the normal adrenal cortex can undergo wide variations in activity in response to physiologic, homeosostatic needs. Under physiologic conditions, adrenal cortical production of desoxycorticosterone-like hormones may subside to levels comparable to those existing in patients with primary pathologic hypoadrenocorticism. The possibility that the sweat Cl-rate index measurement may have diagnostic value in miscellaneous conditions is exemplified by preliminary observations on four patients with idiopathic hypertension.