ACIDOSIS AND ITS THERAPEUTIC VALUE IN THE TREATMENT OF PSYCHOTICS

Abstract

The beginning of the present study dates back to 1938 when a colleague and I reported¹ the occurrence of temporary acidity, very marked in many instances, in the blood and in the spinal fluid following shock treatment. The findings are surprising, since it is known that the living organism usually does not permit a major shift to the alkaline or to the acid side and that "the limits of ph compatible with life are probably not higher or lower respectively than 7.8 and 6.8."² It occurred to us that there might be a correlation between the changes of the ph values of the blood and spinal fluid on the one hand and the clinical results obtained by shock treatment on the other. In the present study we describe further investigations made in the attempt to establish a significant positive relation between a decrease in the p