220 THE INTERNAL SECRETIONS 1920 



by corpus luteum or ovary serves as a regular and 

 efficacious galactagogue. 



OVARIAN HYPERACTIVITY 



Hypertrophy of the ovaries is perhaps always the 

 cause of precocity in girls. Piccardo 12 is convinced 

 that excessive function of the ovaries is directly con- 

 cerned in the etiology of uterine fibromata. He sug- 

 gests antagonistic organotherapy as treatment, the thy- 

 roid gland being his choice. Bandler believes hyper- 

 activity of the pituitary may be an underlying cause 

 of fibroids. Briggs, of Sacramento, believes fibroids 

 are caused by hyperactivity of the ovaries and reports 

 good results from mammary therapy. 



As the mammary hormone is known to be antago- 

 nistic to ovarian function, the former is valuable in 

 controlling over-function of the latter. Mammary ex- 

 tract is given in doses of seven to ten grains or more 

 three times a day, for menorrhagia, metrorrhagia 

 and uterine fibromata. It acts, according to Handler, 5 

 particularly well when combined with anterior pitui- 

 tary extract. I have had some favorable results with 

 this method. Mrs. L., aged 35; periods always pain- 

 ful and profuse but of the regular twenty-eight-day 

 type until about her 33rd year, when the interval was 

 lessened to only seventeen days and the flow became 

 more profuse. The uterus was larger than normal 

 and hard. Mammary gland, ten grains t.i.d., length- 

 ened the interval to twenty-three days and later to 

 twenty-eight, and noticeably decreased the quantity of 

 the flow. 



I have tried mammary extract in several cases of 

 menorrhagia, one case of fibrosis uteri and one appar- 

 ently hyperovarism. The duration of the flow was 

 shortened and the intervals lengthened. 



