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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