Abstract
POTASSIUM tolerance in man was studied by Zwemer and Truskowski1 in relation to adrenal gland activity. After an oral intake of 20 mgm. of potassium chloride/kgm. body-weight, no rise of the plasma potassium-level is observed in normal Europeans, while a rise of 30 per cent or more is established in cases of cortical insufficiency. Accordingly, Henrotte (unpublished work) found a mean rise of 6 per cent in 12 healthy Belgian students. However, in Dakar, Leschi2 obtained, in the same experimental conditions, an average of 4.1 ± 4.8 and 13 ± 8.1 per cent, respectively, for the maximal rise in potassium of 6 Europeans and 32 Negroes of male sex. Consequently, I suggest the occurrence of a lower cortical metabolism in Negroes and its relation with the pigmentation.
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