Prompted by visionary speculation and the hope that a theory might be reduced to facts, Furstenberg, Lashmet and Lathrop 1 in 1934 undertook water balance studies on patients with M\l=e'\ni\l=e`\re'sdisease. The speculation suggested the possibility of cerebral hydration or water\x=req-\ logging as the responsible etiologic factor in M\l=e'\ni\l=e`\re'sdisease, and the theory furnished the concept that the removal of body fluids, dehydration, might eliminate the offending influence and restore the patient to normal equilibrium. The theory proved to be a tenuous one, but its investigation led to an interesting discovery. It was observed, for example, that the quantity of water in the patient's tissues at any given time bore no relation to M\l=e'\ni\l=e`\re'sdisease but that sodium used in hydrating the patient appeared to initiate the characteristic vertiginous attacks of this disorder. The conclusion reached from these studies was that the tissues responsible for M\l=e'\ni\l=e`\re'sdisease were sensitized to or had an increased avidity for the sodium ion. Thus, the treatment appeared to be clearly defined : Reduce the intake of this element to the minimum by prescribing a sodium-free diet, and insure its maximum elimination in excretory fluids by the administration of the aci d\x=req-\ forming salt ammonium chloride.More than 150 patients suffering from M\l=e'\ni\l=e`\re'sdisease have been treated in our clinic by this method. The results have been so uniformly satisfactory that we should like to offer a statistical compilation derived
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