-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
SAMUEL SIMKINS, USE OF MASSIVE DOSES OF VITAMIN A IN THE TREATMENT OF HYPERTHYROIDISM, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 7, Issue 8, 1 August 1947, Pages 574–585, https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-7-8-574
Close - Share Icon Share
Abstract
INVESTIGATIVE work during the last decade and a half has established the close interrelationships existing between hormones and vitamins in their effects on the same organs of the body (19). Of considerable interest is the relationship between thyroxine and vitamin A, concerning which an extensive literature has developed abroad but strangely enough comparatively little in this country. The antagonism between the thyroid hormone and vitamin A was first suggested a half century ago (39) and confirmed between 1930 and 1939 by extensive experimental work in animals.
For the present report the effects of massive doses of vitamin A (200,000 to 400,000 i.u. daily) in hyperthyroidism were tested in two patients. One was a woman with menopausal exophthalmic goiter of moderate severity complicated by essential hypertension; the second, a rather severely toxic hyperthyroid woman. Routine studies such as urinalysis, blood count, blood sugar and electrocardiogram were performed in both patients; the metabolic rate and blood cholesterol were determined as in Table 1; the weight and pulse rate were checked semi-weekly, as was the blood pressure, in case 1. For ease of administration the vitamin A was dispensed in divided dosage in capsules containing 50,000 i.u. each.1
