A textbook of biochemistry for students of medicine and science / by A.T. Cameron.

  • Alexander Thomas Cameron
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A textbook of biochemistry for students of medicine and science / by A.T. Cameron. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    products, either more complex compounds retained in the cell as part of itself (its own protoplasm), or for its own pro¬ cesses (cell enzymes), or poured forth for specific purposes (enzymes and internal secretions), or stored (glycogen, fat), or, on the other hand, degradation and waste products, of which the most important are carbon dioxide, water, and urea. These pass from the tissue cells into the circulating blood, and the amounts of them which it carries are per¬ petually kept within bounds by the lungs (which remove carbon dioxide and water), the kidneys (removing water and urea), and the skin (water). The bulk of the soluble excreta are removed by the kidneys, though certain compounds are excreted through the intestines and form part of the fseces. Since our study is primarily concerned with the chemical processes involved in the transformations of potential to kinetic energies, by however involved and devious routes, it is not surprising that it has been found that the law of con¬ servation of energy holds just as truly in living as in non¬ living processes. The body neither creates nor destroys energy, and accurate chemical experiments studying the intake and output have demonstrated the truth of this very exactly. We shall have to take some note of these experi¬ ments. From the quantitative standpoint also we must take into consideration the energy needs and the total food needs of the individual. Certain parts of a dietary, such as vita¬ mins and salts, are perhaps not directly involved in these energy transformations, but unless the body is furnished with them in correct amounts it cannot guide its energy transformations correctly. There is a very close connection between the chemistry of normal and pathological living processes ; frequently study of the pathological processes has yielded clues to the normal. To some extent our outlook must therefore be extended to certain of the more essentially chemical diseases, amongst which diabetes mellitus stands out pre-eminently.
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