XIV 
THE RELATION BETWEEN HYPOTHYROIDISM, 
INFILTRATION, AND HYPERTENSION 
By HENRY R. HARROWER, M.D., Glendale, Calif. 
The functional aspects of high blood pressure are 
being given increasing attention in current medical lit- 
erature, and it is very clear that many members of the 
profession are coming to the conclusion that there is a 
fundamental underlying cause of the usual syndrome 
associated with high blood pressure that is not con- 
nected with hardened arteries, impermeable kidneys, or 
changes in the heart itself. 
Quite recently a prominent Dutch internist lends 
emphasis to this particular subject in the following 
words: ‘We have no grounds for the assumption that 
high blood pressure is always secondary to heart, kid- 
ney, or vascular disease. It has no more significance 
than the discovery of a murmur or hardening of a nor- 
mally soft organ. Because we can measure the blood 
pressure we have paid too much attention to it and 
hidden our ignorance behind the term ‘essential hyper- 
tension.’ The rise in blood pressure is merely one ele- 
ment of a morbid series which has to be regarded as a 
whole.” ? 
Another recent interesting communication on the 
subject was made by Dr. L. F. Barker of Johns Hopkins 
at the last meeting of the Ohio State Medical Associa- 
tion.2 He calls attention to the fact that high blood 
pressure appears to depend chiefly upon a narrowing of 
the lumina of the arterioles in the precapillary areas. 
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