Thirty-six patients (17 males and 19 females) with severe bronchial asthma were treated for more than two years with cortisone and norandrolone. The patients were followed by repeated estimations of the body cell mass (BCM) using total exchangeable potassium (K e ) as a parameter of cell mass. In ten of the female patients, determinations of total body water (TBW) were also performed at the end of anabolic treatment. BCM increased significantly in both male (3.3 kg) and female (4.5 kg) patients. The relative increase in BCM was more pronounced in the female (25%) than in the male patients (13%). After one year of anabolic therapy, no further increase in BCM was demonstrated in either sex. The male patients did not increase more than was seen in male patients on cortisone only and previously reported. The average body weight was unchanged during the study, indicating a decrease in body fat. In the female patients, the final relative body cell mass was higher than in normal women and similar to that of normal men. TBW also increased in proportion to K e and at the end of treatment the quotient TBW/B.W. was not different from that of normal men. The regression of K e on TBW was normal. The significance of these findings are discussed. During treatment, one woman developed radiological signs of osteoporosis and two males showed progression of bone atrophy, which was diagnosed before the study.
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Björn Lindholm (1967) studied this question.