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

50 страница из 141

The influence of the ovaries upon the production of obesity can be demonstrated by the sequels of castration, and also by the fact that women, after one or more, especially several pregnancies, or after sexual excesses, may become very fat. In such women this obesity may be only partial and limited (as we have shown in a recent communication to the International Congress of Medicine in Lisbon, 1906) to certain parts—e.g., the mammary glands or hips.

There can be no doubt that the sexual glands influence the nutrition of the tissues in a powerful manner, and this has also been shown, experimentally, by the researches of two Berlin experimenters, Professors Loewy and P. I. Richter,^[38] performed in the physiological institution of Professor Zunz. These savants have shown that after castration there is a diminution of oxidation. By giving extracts of dogs’ testicles to castrated male dogs, they were able to augment the processes of oxidation. These processes, however, were still more increased after the administration of female extracts to these castrated male dogs. The administration of ovarian extracts to the spayed bitch has, of course, given still better results. Thus there was here an increase of 67.7 per cent. after castration, and 37.6 per cent. of the original value. The increase of the oxidation in male dogs was 44.5 per cent. after castration, by the treatment with ovarian extracts, and 24.8 per cent. above the normal value. If the results after feeding with male extracts were not so successful, it must be attributed to the circumstance that we are at present unable to produce testicular extracts of the same efficacy as ovarian extracts.