Are Physiologic Disturbances Related to the Acute Psychotic Process in the Mentally Ill?

There are in the literature many isolated reports of functional derangement of some of the physiologic processes of the body in cases of acute psychoses. In this paper I shall attempt to demonstrate the constancy of these manifestations in certain types of cases, and to show that with a remission of the acute psychologic disturbances these derangements also approach normal standards. In 1902, Reiman 1 reported the presence of glycosuria in the mentally ill, especially in cases of depression. He quoted Legrand du Saulle as finding that there was an intermittent glycosuria in cases of dementia paralytica and that this state was present only when the dementia paralytica was accompanied by depression. Folin, Dennis and Smellie 2 reported finding sugar in the urine of psychotic patients. Lorenz, 3 in studying the blood sugar tolerance of mental patients, reported higher curves for the manic-depressive psychoses of depressed type.