STUDIES IN THROMBO-ANGIITIS OBLITERANS (BUERGER)

Abstract

It is a matter of common observation that persons who have been heavy smokers gain weight when they stop smoking. Patients with thrombo-angiitis obliterans, all of whom have been smokers, regularly show a marked increase in weight when they stop using tobacco. It seemed plausible that this fact might in some way be related to a fall in the metabolic rate when smoking was discontinued. We therefore investigated the basal metabolism in a large number of patients with thrombo-angiitis obliterans and in a number of men of corresponding ages who were smokers but who were in good health. <h3>MATERIAL AND METHODS</h3> The patients investigated were persons with thrombo-angiitis obliterans drawn without selection from the large group being treated in the special clinic for this disease in the outpatient department of the Mount Sinai Hospital. They represented all stages of the disease and all ages. Some of them were examined while