Читать книгу Old Age Deferred. The causes of old age and its postponement by hygienic and therapeutic measures онлайн

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Infectious diseases also induce changes in the adrenals, as shown by many authors (see ssss1).

Various toxic products, such as lead, alcohol, and tobacco, which are considered causes of arteriosclerosis, are also able to produce hypertrophy of the adrenals.

And, if we consider those agencies which are commonly considered the causes of premature senility, we notice the singular fact that they are also considered to be especially harmful to the various glands with internal secretion, particularly the thyroid and sexual glands.

Among these agencies may be mentioned infectious diseases, sexual excesses, frequent pregnancies, strong emotions continued for a long time, such as grief and sorrow, chronic intoxications (by poisonous products produced in the body, or introduced from without). We will show later, in an exhaustive way, the action of these agencies upon the glands with internal secretion.

Between the thyroid gland and the ovaries, a close relationship also exists. Thus, invariably, when we find the thyroid altered, we can also see changes in the ovaries. Consequently in myxœdema and Graves’s disease we find, with great frequency, disturbances in the functions of the ovaries, e.g., cessation of the menses, or disorders of menstruation. In such conditions the ovaries have often been found to be atrophied. We also frequently find such disturbances in acromegaly, where they may either be due to changes in the pituitary, associated with an altered condition of the ovaries, or they may be ascribed directly to changes in the thyroid which, as we have shown in a communication to the International Congress in Madrid, 1903, is very often altered in acromegaly. If microscopically examined it is probably found changed in every case. Indeed, we have attributed acromegaly to the primary changes in the thyroid which lead only secondarily to those in the pituitary body.