NON-DIABETIC BLOOD SUGAR CURVES

Various authors who have made duplicate blood sugar curves from the same individuals have considered that any lowering of the second curve was the result of the treatment or of the experimental procedure introduced. The following may be mentioned as examples: lowered curves in 6 patients better of arthritis (1), and in 6 of 10 patients follow-ing medication by means of vasodilator drugs, Pemberton et al. (2); in 7 of 12 subjects, second curves with patients sitting which were lower than initial curves with limbs elevated, Cajorie et al. (3); in four patients lowered curves accompanying reduction in weight, Labbe (4); lowered curves following arc light irradiation, Berg (5), after recovery from head injuries, Davidson and Allen (6), and when tannic acid was given with the glucose, Mertz and Rominger (7). With reference to these and other reports which might be cited, the question arises whether the reduction in the height of the second curves might be due wholly or in part to a natural tendency for the second curve to be lower than the first. Most writers have assumed that the level and the general form of the bIood sugar curve of a normal individual is fairly constant from time ' This research was made possible through a grant by the Conmmittee on Epi-lepsy, New York City. This paper is no. 54 in a series of studies in metabolism from the Harvard Medical School and Allied Hospitals. The expenses have hee