BLOOD CHEMISTRY 195 



the hormone alone. However, with an adequate dose of the 

 hormone, the addition of this extra salt is unnecessary, and 

 one can relieve all the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency by 

 the use of the cortical hormone alone plus the normal salt 

 requirement of the individual. 



It is quite conceivable that in certain cases the loss of elec- 

 trolyte has proceeded so far that a resumption of the normal 

 salt balance is impossible without an adequate exogenous 

 source of electrolyte. In any case, the administration of salt 

 will aid in mitigating the serious symptoms due to electrolyte 

 loss, and thus aid in the recovery of the organism. Conse- 

 quently, the use of salt in adrenal insufficiency is to be highly 

 recommended in all acute cases and in chronic conditions 

 where the cost of the adrenal cortical hormone makes it nec- 

 essary to economize on its use. 



The beneficent effects of salt therapy as well as its limita- 

 tions are well illustrated by experiments on adrenalectomized 

 month-old rats. If one maintains such animals on the cortical 

 hormone for about a week and then replaces the hormone with 

 0.2 gram sodium chloride plus 0.1 gram sodium bicarbonate 

 per rat per day, one finds that the animals will grow and ap- 

 pear normal for a period of a week or ten days. Their subse- 

 quent reactions to salt therapy will depend upon the complete- 

 ness of the adrenalectomy. If completely adrenalectomized, 

 growth ceases on the salt therapy and death of the animal 

 follows in the course of about a week. If rests of cortical 

 tissue are present, due to an incomplete operation (cf. Chapter 

 XVI), the animals will continue to live when maintained on 

 the adjuvant salt treatment. If these rests hypertrophy, the 

 salt therapy may be discontinued and the animal which would 

 have died had it remained untreated with salt or hormone 

 following operation, now survives and grows normally on its 

 regular diet. If the cortical rests fail to hypertrophy, the 

 animal may be maintained alive for several weeks, but it will 

 grow at a subnormal rate, and eventually die of adrenal in- 



