Abstract
Using a modification of the Lewis and Benedict method 1 for the estimation of sugar in the blood the normal value seems to be between 0.09 and 0.12 per cent. Blood was examined in the morning before the patients had anything to eat or drink, the urine from a simultaneous half-hour period being tested for sugar.
Applying the above procedure it was found that in uncomplicated nephritis the blood sugar ranged from 0.12 per cent. in mild cases to 0.26 per cent. in severe cases with marked nitrogen retention. Cases of glycosuria upon admission were excreting anywhere from a mere trace to 6 or 7 per cent. sugar in the 24-hour specimen of urine. These cases seemed to fall into two distinct classes; (1)those having a normal or nearly normal morning blood sugar with urine sugar free by ordinary tests; (2) those having a high morning blood sugar (0.3 per cent. or over) and a comparatively small amount of sugar in the urine. In the former class were found the cases of “mild diabetes” and cases of hyperthyroidism; the latter class included cases with marked constitutional symptoms and definite signs of nephritis—“severe diabetes.”
Tests of alimentary hyperglycemia and glycosuria were begun in the morning on an empty stomach. A specimen of blood and a half-hour specimen of urine were collected preceding the administration of a small quantity of glucose (30 to 90 grams in 400 c.c. weak tea). Following this the blood was tested at 15-minute intervals for the first 1 1/2 hours and at 1/2 hour intervals for the succeeding 4 1/2 hours. Half-hour specimens of urine were collected. The percentage of sugar was determined in the whole blood, plasma, unwashed corpuscles and urine.
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