Reference must be made to the use of a largely oatmeal diet recommended by Von Noorden. Von Noorden claims that in some cases of severe diabetes, especially those in which the ordinary diabetic diet fails to rid the urine of sugar, that an oatmeal regime will remarkably diminish the glycosuria, and will cause the acetone bodies to disappear from the urine. The milder cases of diabetes are not benefited by this regime, rather the reverse, but it has proved of value in the treatment of some severe cases. The diet consists in the daily administration of -

250 grammes1 of oatmeal = 8 1/2 to 9 ounces (contains about 150 grammes of starch).

250 and 300 grammes of butter.

100 grammes of pure vegetable albumin - or the equivalent taken from the whites of 6 or 8 eggs.

The oatmeal is cooked thoroughly in water for about 2 hours, and the butter and eggs are well stirred in when the oatmeal is nearly cooked. Salt is added to suit the taste. This regime is continued for eight to fourteen days, when the ordinary diabetic regime is gradually resumed. The oatmeal may be taken as a thin soup or gruel, or it may be made into fried meat balls. The explanation of the successful results recorded by this method is not easy. It has been suggested that one kind of starch, such as oatmeal starch, is better tolerated than another. In the writer's opinion, the favourable results which undoubtedly follow this diet in some cases are due to the stimulating effect of oatmeal on the thyroid gland, as proved by experimental observations (p. 602). There is in his view an important relationship between the pancreas and thyroid gland, of a nature of which at present little or nothing is known.