Famine Oedema

This study of nutritional or famine oedema was carried out on twenty-seven patients admitted to two hospitals in Holland in April, May and June 1945, and on eleven inmates of a civil prison in the British Zone of Germany during the summer of 1946. The latter individuals were not hospital patients, and were engaged in either light or moderate physical work in the prison until they were selected as suitable subjects for study. After selection they were allowed out of bed during the day, but were not permitted to leave their cells except for 30 min. of outdoor exercise (walking in the prison yard) each day. The Dutch group contained individuals of both sexes aged between 21 and 77 years. The German group was made up of ten males between the ages of 21 and 31 years and one male aged 52 years. Because of their reduced food intake, both Dutch and German subjects had suffered considerable weight loss. They showed no clinical sign of organic disease.