Studies in blood sugar during different stresses in air force personnel [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Owing to a case of indisposition during flying, the cause of which might possibly be traced to lability in the carbohydrate metabolism, my attention was drawn to the behaviour of the blood sugar in this connection. As this did not appear to have been the subject of previous study, I arranged a series of investigations, which, on account of the special circumstances obtaining in this case, had to be carried out under the normal conditions in which the pilots lived and worked. Both the advantages and disadvantages attendant on such field investigations were fully realized. Since the above-mentioned case of indisposition might be supposed to emanate from the blood-sugar balance, it seemed plausible to examine to what degree similar indispositions had occurred in the Swedish Royal Air Force. I was granted permission by the Surgeon General to go through and make extracts from our reports of similar cases with uncertain origin. On several occasions this collected material has been the subject of study by various persons and from partly different viewpoints, and several investigations have been made in connection with this problem. Among others are those (unpublished) of Professor Sven Forssman, Stockholm. In his study he only puts forward those views that are of interest from the angle of occupational poisonings. In the light of these studies the following points may be stressed : Lead, which is to be found in aviation petrol, petrol fumes and acrolein (obtained when heating lubricating oils), are of little practical interest; but, as regards carbon monoxide, the opposite is true. Carbon monoxide : Reduction of the functions of the nervous