Insulin in Treatment of Ulcer

Abstract

Starting from the point of view that basic ulcerogenic moments represent disturbances in the hypothalamus-hypophysis complex, the author has set up a working hypothesis for applying insulin comas in the treatment of ulcers.

Application of insulin thearapy requires that the irritation stage that occurs in conditions of hypoglycaemia be shortened so that dcep comas might be induced within the shortest time possible.

Of 42 patients treated with insulin, 82 per cent obtained relief, 11 percent had an initial recurrence but were cured eventually, whereas 7 percent had no relief, partly because the therapy was not completed. The more recent the disease the quicker and the more satisfactory the results of the therapy; however, with continued treatment good results can be obtained even in serious and chronic cases.

Incidentally, on the basis of clinical experience, the authour is led to the conclusion that the theory of hyperacidity with reference to the pathogenesis of ulcers carries little conviction. The author also holds that in the Ulcus duodeni there exists hypertestosteronaemia with hypotesto-steronaemia occurring in the Ulcus ventriculi, which in turn accounts for the fact that the latter often degenerates malignantly into carcinoma, which is not the case with the Ulcus duodeni.