Myxoedema, cretinism and the goitres, with some of their relations / by Edward T. Blake.

  • Blake, Edward T. (Edward Thomas), 1842-1905.
Date:
[1894]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Myxoedema, cretinism and the goitres, with some of their relations / by Edward T. Blake. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    about one eighth of a gland, can be administered after each meal. Hector Mackenzie, Cecil Beadles and Fox have observed palpitation, perspiration, headache, sleeplessness and mus- cular relaxation after over-doses of thyroid extract. But these are some of the symptoms of Graves' disease. George E. Murray, of Newcastle, in a most instructive paper which will well repay perusal, contributed to the Lancet of Nov. 11, 1893, showed that in rabbits and in monkeys a rise from 2° to 3° of temperature will follow a hypodermic injection of thyroidine. This suggests that the preparation depends, for its active properties, rather on the presence of extractives than on the animal alkaloids. Dr. Johnston, following Mobius, Byrom Bramwell and H. Williams, has shown the sharp contrast that exists between exophthalmic goitre and myxoedema in the following table :— Exophthalmic Goitre. Myxcedema. (1) Thyroid gland usually enlarged. (2) Skin. — Profuse perspiration ; electrical resistance diminished. (3) Subcutaneous tissue.—Extreme emaciation in many cases. (4) Temperature irregular, fre- quently raised; feeling of warmth. (5) Pulse very rapid. (6) Mental change.—Irritability and excitability. (7) Often amenorrheas. (1) Absent or atrophied. (2) No perspiration; electrical re- sistance increased. (3) Large deposit of fat. (4) Temperature lowered; feeling o chilliness. (5) Often very slow. (6) Hebetude and placidity. (7) Often menorrhagia. But before any of these writers, Byrom Bramwell, in the Atlas of Clinical Medicine, published in 1892, had in a foot-note drawn attention to the contrast. It must be remembered that persistent increase in bulk of an organ by no means signifies increased functional activity. A suckling mother has enlarged breasts and there is greater functional activity, but a permanently hyper- trophied breast cannot secrete milk. That myxoedema and Graves' disease are not necessarily opposed to one another, is shown by the fact that occasion-