CLINICAL CALORIMETRY

Abstract

The experiments here to be described concern two patients with moderate diabetes treated by the oatmeal method in the metabolism ward of the Russell Sage Institute of Pathology and four Rockefeller Hospital patients with more severe diabetes transferred to Bellevue Hospital for study in the respiration calorimeter during various stages of the fasting treatment. Only very brief mention is possible of the literature¹concerning the subjects touched upon in the experiments, namely, (1) the oatmeal and fasting treatment, (2) the dextrosenitrogen ratio, (3) the respiratory quotient under certain conditions, and (4) the total metabolism in diabetes. 1. According to literature previously reviewed,²the von Noorden school no longer holds that oatmeal stands entirely alone in respect to the capability of utilization by diabetic patients, but nevertheless maintains that for some unknown reason it is superior to other forms of carbohydrate. On the other hand, Blum³and