OVARIAN EXCESS 183 



are usually extremely feminine in appearance and char- Effects of 

 acter. I have alluded to this subject elsewhere 1 , so I ovarian 

 shall not further discuss it beyond calling attention secretion , 



i ° on sexual 



to the fact that a corresponding condition may be activity, 

 seen in the lower animals ; for example, if a doe be 

 kept away from the buck during the breeding season 

 she comes on heat every few days — a phenomenon 

 seen in similar circumstances in most female animals. 



Fortunately, cases of ovarian excess are comparatively 

 rare, but we meet with them from time to time, and 

 may find considerable difficulty in dealing with them 

 effectually. 



The treatment of these cases consists of injections Treatment 

 of antagonistic secretions, such as suprarenal and excess"* 11 

 pituitary extracts. In this way the excess of ovarian 

 secretion can usually be reduced, or at least the effects 

 and symptoms associated therewith minimized. Should 

 this simple method of treatment not be successful, and 

 if the menorrhagia be serious and the psychical con- 

 dition of the patient excessively irritable, then, if we 

 can make a certain diagnosis — and this, of course, can 

 only be done in some cases by knowing the circumstances 

 of the patient — it is as justifiable to reduce the bulk of 

 excessively secreting ovaries as it is to remove portions 

 of the thyroid gland for the relief of hyperthyroidism. 

 As a rule, the removal of one ovary is not enough, for 

 the other may subsequently hypertrophy ; at least one 

 ovary and a wedge-shaped portion from the centre of 

 the other should be removed. 



(2) An excessive ovarian secretion affects the meta- Effect of 

 bolism in a way opposite to that brought about by ovarian * 

 oophorectomy ; and one of the most important metabolic secretion on 

 disturbances is the abnormally large excretion of lime bolism. 

 salts. 



In the non-pregnant woman this excessive excretion 

 of calcium is a matter of no importance so far as her 

 bony tissues are concerned, but probably it accounts for 



1 Bell, W. Blair, The Principles of Qyncecology, 1910 ; Practitioner's 

 Encyclopaedia, 1912, p. 1005. 



