THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF THE SUGAR TOLERANCE CURVE IN ENDOCRINOPATHIES

Abstract

Since Hofmeister (1888) first reported mellituria in dogs following the administration of dextrose, and Jacobson (1913) proposed a series of blood sugar determinations, as tests offering certain aids in the diagnoses of diseased states, particularly the endocrinopathies, there has been a regrettable confusion in the prolific literature pertaining to the sugar tolerance test. The work of the earlier investigators in general may be disregarded, because the methods were inexact, and the results necessarily unreliable. With certain minor variations, the test consists in the administration of a standard amount of dextrose (100 Gm.) and the estimation of the sugar in the blood and urine at intervals thereafter. The proponents of this test base their diagnostic interpretation on the height attained by the curve, the rapidity of its return toward normal and the level of the blood sugar three hours after the administration of dextrose as compared with its level at the