Evening star., 1938-09-15
G0|TER EXPERTS
CONSIDER EYES
Thyroid Secretion Believed
Not Basic Cause of
Protrudinq.

A three-link chain in the produc-
ton Of popeyes-known medically as
exotlalmus-was postulatec from ex-
periments with rabbits and guinea
pigs by DR.. David Marine OF New York,
pioneer research worker in thyroid
gland problems, before the Interna-
tional Goiter Conference meeting at
the Mayfower yesterday afternoon.
Eyeballs bulging out of their SOCK
cts constitute one of the character
istic symptoms of Graves disease, an
extremely nervous condition asso-
ciated with enlarged thyroid glands
and supposedly due to an oversecre-
ton of thyroxin, the thyroid hormone
which regulates the pace Of living.
DR.. Marines experiments throw Sc
rious doubt on whether the popeyes
themselves. regardless of other fac
-tors in the disease. are due to the
thyroxln secretion. In some animals
he was actually able to end the con-
dition by giving extra doses of thy
roxin and concluded that the thyroid
itself may have protective role.
Hormone May Be Guilty.
There is considerable evidence. he
found, that a hormone secreted by
the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland
inclosed in the brain plays a part
in causing the eyes to pop out. This
also may be in a measure responsible
for theoverstimulation of the thy
roid. Thethird link in the chain
came from the observation that pop
eyes occur much more frequently in
men than in women. although both
sexes are subject to Graves disease.
He found that when certain hor-
mone-secreting glands in male rab-
bits were removed the popeyes pre-
viously produced receded 1t also was
found impossible to produce the ron
dition experimentally in rabbits de-
prived Of these glands. When syn
thetic male hormones were injected
into a rabbits blood stream the con-
dition could be reproduced If the ami
NAL had had popeyes before. DR..
Marine was unable to produce it for
the first time in any animal by in
lection of the synthetic hormones.
Injection of thyroxin, he found, neu-
tralized the effects Of the sex hor-
mones on the eyes.
He postulated the oestrin, one of
the best-known fehale hormones,
which may serve to inhibit popeyes,
since these have been observed to re-
cede markedly in womenswhen the Sc
cretion of the hormone is greatest. The
condition also is rarely encountered in
cretins, victims of another sort of
thyroid disorder in which there is
an undersecretion of thyroxin. This
is probably due, he said to the WELL
known fact that in these feeble
minded individuals the sex hormone
secretion into the blood stream is
markedly low.
True Cause in Doubt.
Even in the thyroid-pituitary-sex
gland chain, DR.. Marine said, it is
unlikely that the true cause Of exo-
thalmus is understood and he pos
tulated that the direct cause may be
some as yet unknown factor in the
blood stream which is activated or
inactivated by these hormones.
The actual mechanism of the pop
eyes themselves is very obscure, he
pointed out. Lower animals have
muscles in the eye which are capable
Of protruding the eyeballs from their
sockets at the will of the owner. These
muscles are vestigial in man, how
ever, but in some way must be put
in position to act by the hormone
chain.
Possibilities of still further reduc-
ton Of the death rate from thyroid
gland operations was stressed by DR..
Frank Leahy of Boston, chairman of
the conference. In his own clinic, he
said, over 1900 such operations have
been performed with a mortality
which always has remained below /
per cent.
A great deal, he advised the sur
geons, depends on the kind Of anes-
thetic used. Ether, he said, was the
worst because Of its effect on the
stomach Of the patient. Local lnes-
thetica subject the patient to IN emo