226 



THE SEX-COMPLEX 



Dementia 

 prsecox and 

 genital 

 atrophy. 



Genital 

 atrophy 

 with tuber- 

 culosis and 

 other chronic 

 diseases. 



Pituitary 

 lesions in 

 confusional 

 insanity. 



epiphenomenon of, rather than the cause of dementia 

 praecox. 



A further interesting series of communications has 

 been published recently by Mott 1 . These relate to 

 normal and morbid conditions of the testes, from birth 

 to old age, in one hundred asylum and hospital 

 cases. 



The fact that long-standing disease is associated 

 with changes in the testes similar to those found in 

 dementia praecox is again evident in this publication. 

 Reference is made to the observations of Kyrle 2 , who 

 has shown that in chronic diseases, especially in tuber- 

 culosis, there is usually arrest of genital development. 

 Tt must not be forgotten that very many cases of 

 dementia prsecox, and of other types of insanity, die 

 of tuberculosis. 



Further, Mott states that "a patient may suffer 

 with the signs and symptoms of dementia praecox, 

 and have normal testes". By way of explanation, he 

 adds this footnote: "It may be mentioned that non- 

 degenerative forms of dementia praecox are occasion- 

 ally met with, and it is not always easy to diagnose 

 dementia praecox in the early stages. Cases of con- 

 fusional insanity may present a similarity in clinical 

 symptoms to dementia praecox. As Re*gis points out, 

 chronic confusional insanity may terminate in dementia". 



Williams 3 , indeed, relates a case of narcoleptic con- 

 fusion in a boy, seventeen years of age, which was con- 

 sidered to be related to some lesion in the pituitary, and in 

 which there were symptoms of dementia praecox. The 

 boy recovered completely after some years. Other cases 

 of confusional insanity definitely due to pituitary lesions 

 are described by this author. It must not be forgotten, 

 that, as has been shown in the preceding pages, pituitary 

 insufficiency is associated with genital hypoplasia. 



i Mott, F. W., Brit. Med. Journ., 1919, vol. ii, pp. 655, 698, 737. 



2 Kyrle, J., Wien. Klin. Woch., 1910, vol. xxiii, p. 1583. 



3 Williams, T. A., Internal. Clin. (Philadelp.), 1915, ser. 26, vol. ii, 

 p. 178. 



