112 



Scientific Proceedings (74). 



intravenous administration of sodium carbonate will significantly 

 lower the excretion of sugar in the urine, the hyperglycemia being 

 correspondingly decreased in height and duration. It was also 

 stated that the intravenous injection of sodium carbonate into 

 normal animals will sometimes although not invariably cause a 

 distinct fall in the blood sugar content. 



From these illustrative observations it may be concluded that 

 a condition of acidosis tends toward the elimination of carbohy- 

 drate from the body whereas alkalosis shows a tendency to conserve 

 the carbohydrate. Otherwise expressed it seems tenable that 

 carbohydrate metabolism of the organism is maintained in equili- 

 brium by a balance between the acids and bases of the body. 



Applying these ideas to human diabetes one gains the following 

 conception of its chemical pathology: without reference to what 

 may initiate the abnormal condition, a state of acidosis unques- 

 tionably develops and must tend to become aggravated, if any- 

 thing, by the characteristic acid-producing foods that characterize 

 the conventional diabetic dietary. From what has already been 

 pointed out, however, it seens reasonable to conclude that anything 

 which will counteract or neutralize the continuous stream of acid 

 entering the body should benefit the individual. One is led to 

 ask, what influence would this have upon the excretion of sugar if 

 the organism were once saturated, so to speak, with alkali and 

 enough alkali continually supplied to neutralize the exogeneous 

 and the endogenous acid? These considerations have been put 

 to the test in a young diabetic, 26 years of age, with a very severe 

 type of diabetes. When first seen by me fifteen months ago there 

 was a sugar excretion of 151 grams per day. On a restricted diet 

 the output of sugar was reduced to 25-50 grams, acetone and 

 diacetic acid always being present in relatively large quantities. 

 After a year's interval in spite of very stringent dietary restrictions 

 the sugar excretion suddenly increased to 70-80 grams daily. 

 Gradually increasing doses of sodium bicarbonate to a maximum 

 of 120 grams per day resulted in a gradual diminution of sugar 

 output until the urine became sugar-free. The dosage of sodium 

 bicarbonate was thereupon decreased at the rate of 7 grams per 

 day until the intake amounted to 42 grams which has been main- 

 tained to the present time. Under the alkali treatment the urine 



