17-Ketosteroid Excretion in Ageing Subjects 137 



at the present time, but a study is in progress in whicli recent 

 memory and muscle strength tests are being taken at intervals 

 by aged men on a regime of steroid administration designed 

 to restore the urinary pattern to that of normal young men. 



REFERENCES 



Butt, W. R., Henly, A. A., and Morris, C. J. O. R. (1948). Biochem. 



J. 42, 447. 

 DoBRiNER, K. (1953). J. clin. Invest., 32, 940. 

 DoRFMAN, R. I. (1955). Ciba Foundation CoUoquia on Endocrinology, 



8, 112, London: J. & A. Churchill, Ltd. 

 GiRARD, A., and Sandulesco, G. (1936). Helv. chim. acta, 19, 1095. 

 PiNCUS, G. (1945). J. clin. Endocrin., 5, 291. 



PiNCUS, G., Romanoff, L. P., and Carlo, J. (1954). J. Geront., 9, 11 *. 

 Romanoff, E, B., Hudson, P., and Pincus, G. (1953). J. clin. Endocrin. 



13, 1546. 

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Hormone Res., 9, 213. 



DISCUSSION 



Tunbridge: Dr. Freeman, would you like to elaborate Dr. Rubin's 

 last remark? 



Freeman: We gave 15 subjects a placebo for one month, and then the 

 potent medication for a period of five months. The strength test 

 consisted of lifting 5 lb. dumb-bells, one on each arm, from the side to the 

 level of the shoulder, 20 times a minute until the individual was tired 

 out. This is a crude test; it is somewhat subjective, somewhat objective. 

 On the other hand you couldn't afford to exhaust these people completely 

 and have them pass out. Then there was a steadiness test, in which they 

 held a rod in a hole, and if there was a tremor an electrical contact 

 would be made. There were a series of holes, and at the smallest hole in 

 which they could get a certain percentage of not touching the edges we 

 ran off a series on that particular hole. There were psychological tests — 

 arithmetic, memory, mazes, and we also had brain waves but these 

 haven't been reported on yet. The psychological tests showed 

 absolutely no change from beginning to end; if anything there was a 

 slight decrease in memory quotient. This may be due to the natural 

 ageing of the individual, and we will have to check this by running a 

 placebo group for this whole time, preferably two groups, one receiving 

 the placebo and the other the potent medication, with the investigator 

 not knowing which was which. However, there is the possibility that in 

 a larger number, if this memory defect persists, it may be an alarming 

 phenomenon. Steadiness was not affected at all. Apparently this is a 

 factor dependent on integration of the central nervous system rather 

 than muscular activity. The general muscular strength however was 

 definitely improved, starting off at a control level of sixty seconds, and 

 going up in one month to eighty-five seconds, and then to about ninety 



