Research on the thyro-parathyroid apparatus

Abstract

From all the observations made in recent years, it appears that the thyroid and parathyroid glands are well differentiated organs, with their own individuality, whose functional suppression gives rise to specific phenomena. Thus it is admitted that the suppression of the thyroid gland causes late disorders of a trophic character (strumiprive cachexia); while the suppression of the parathyroid gland is followed by acute phenomena of a nervous nature, preferably convulsive, (strumiprive tetany). In order to reach these conclusions it has been necessary to carry out meticulous investigations, which, rejecting Gley's hypothesis of functional substitution, grant to the parathyroid glands a specific functional importance, perhaps even greater than that of the thyroid.