Abstract
The use of benzedrine in narcolepsy has been advocated by several workers. 1 , 2 , 3 The results have been uniformly excellent, the drug affording complete relief from symptoms; no patients have failed to respond to adequate dosage. In the case-records reported, the basal metabolic rates recorded have averaged well below the normal range. It has been stated that the drug can awaken experimental animals from anesthesia produced by barbital given intraperitoneally. 4 , 5 In humans, besides its profound effect in narcolepsy, it has produced also marked cerebral stimulation, insomnia, and rise in blood-pressure; this occurs in normal individuals, likewise. One would expect, therefore, that benzedrine would markedly increase metabolism, most probably indirectly through its stimulative action.
The following study was undertaken to determine the metabolic activity of benzedrine as shown by the basal metabolic rate. Three subjects were used: T.B.L., a normal white female, aet 28; M.H.S., a normal white male, aet 29; and J.B.L., a normal white male, aet 30. Basal metabolic rates of 2 subjects were determined for 3 successive days, and of the third, for 2 days in order to obtain the true basal levels. Benzedrine sulfate, 20 mg. (2 tablets), was then given for 5 successive days each morning at 9:00′ o'clock, following the basal metabolic rate determinations. Therefore, the basal metabolic rate obtained on any given day during the experimental period showed the effect of the benzedrine taken 24 hours previously. The basal rates were not determined on each day of the experimental period, but at the end of the first, second and fifth days of medication. A post-experimental control-rate was determined on the third day (72 hours) after the last dose.
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