UNDERNUTRITION 2? 



eral health. This value has been ascribed by Allen in 1915, in part at 

 least, to the rest afforded the pancreas (Islands of Langerhans). 



Starvation in epilepsy has shown some remarkable results. Appar- 

 ently in many cases of epilepsy, there ceases to be any convulsions so long 

 as the patient starves. But when food is given, the convulsions begin^ 

 again. I have seen a child with four to ten convulsions a day absolutely 

 stop having convulsions so long as no food was taken. It has been reported 

 that just before the epileptic has a convulsion, there is an increase of the 

 urea in the blood (Dufour and Semelayne, 1920). It is likely that the 

 reason that fasting obviates convulsions is that the body fluids have, no 

 marked changes in their chemical contents in fasting, while with food we 

 see following each meal a cycle of chemical variations in the blood, includ- 

 ing the nitrogenous constituents and the acid-base relationship; these 

 changes may be a stimulus which starts a convulsion. 



Permanent relief of obesity by means of fasting and undernutrition 

 has been obtained, but sometimes the results are very disappointing. The 

 relief requires persistent underfeeding, which unfortunately is not in keep- 

 ing with the human nature, and the nervous strain associated with the 

 treatment is often in a way pitiable. The harmful results of visceroptosis, 

 etc., associated with loss of weight must be remembered, but probably in 

 practice are not so important in these cases as in certain cases of enforced 

 undernutrition. 



