SIGNIFICANCE OF RISE IN BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL AFTER INJECTION OF EPINEPHRINE IN MENTAL DISEASE

MEASUREMENT of the rise in the blood sugar level after the injections of epinephrine has been used for many years as a means of estimating glycogen stores in the body 1 ; it is believed that all of the glycogen which is broken down to glucose during the test is derived from the liver, for epinephrine does not influence the glycogen content of muscle in man. 2 Evidence is available indicating that an excess of adrenocortical hormones, which favor glycogen formation, is present in patients with mental disease, 3 and therefore it was considered desirable to study the rise in blood sugar after injection of epinephrine in treated and untreated patients with mental disease in order to extend the earlier observations of others 4 in this respect. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifty-one untreated patients, ranging in age from 16 to 50 years, were studied shortly after admission; 33 were women. The diagnosis