HYPERTHYROIDISM, MYXEDEMA AND DIABETES

Abstract

Many of the hypotheses concerning the rôle of the thyroid in carbohydrate metabolism have been based on observation of glycosuria in cases of hyperthyroidism and on the study of cases of frank diabetes, associated with diseases of the thyroid. The literature contains a great number of references to evanescent glycosuria and hyperglycemia in patients with toxic goiter. These are common but by no means constant phenomena. After a test meal of 50 or 100 Gm. of glucose the blood sugar in such patients may rise to a higher level than is normal, and during the course of three or four hours a few grams of sugar, rarely more, may be excreted. At other times, even with restriction of the diet, there may be traces of sugar in the urine. The intravenous injection of glucose at uniform rates¹ has revealed that, whereas normal persons can be injected intravenously with glucose at