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Insulin Shock Therapy

I.—Carbohydrate Metabolism in Schizophrenia. Preliminary Observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

John C. Thomas
Affiliation:
From Shenley Hospital, Shenley, Hertfordshire
Bernard Gilsenan
Affiliation:
From Shenley Hospital, Shenley, Hertfordshire
E. J. C. Hewitt
Affiliation:
From Shenley Hospital, Shenley, Hertfordshire

Extract

Insulin shock treatment of schizophrenia is to-day a recognized part of our therapeutic armamentarium in mental disease, and with selected cases is yielding results which are more encouraging than those given by other methods. At the same time the method is largely empirical, and the theories of its mode of action are only equalled in number by the hypothetical causes of the disease itself.

Type
Part II.—Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1939 

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References

It is interesting to note that one ætiological theory of the disease postulates a disturbance of the vegetative nervous system, with a parallel adrenaline imbalance.Google Scholar

We have used the Hagedorn-Jensen blood-sugar apparatus designed by Dr. H. J. Fuchs, and sold by Messrs. Baird & Tatlock, Ltd. The use of the special automatic 0.1 ml. pipette is a great asset when a number of estimations have to be made (our preliminary work has already entailedmore than a thousand blood-sugar analyses),as are the funnel-topped filtration-boiling tubes. The lipped precipitation tubes are designed to hold the 6 ml. of ZnSO4-NaOH mixture together with the blood sample, but do not allow for the extra 1 ml. odd of distilled water which is blown in from the automatic pipette. We have had to discard these tubes therefore, and have substitutedordinary Pyrex test-tubes.Google Scholar

It is important to stress the necessity for using chemicals of the utmost purity for this technique. With these, the automatic pipette and the needle-dropper, one can obtain exact duplicate results on any given sample of blood.Google Scholar

The remaining patient—a male in catatonic stupor—will be discussed elsewhere.Google Scholar

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