Abstract
EFFECTS OF MENTAL WORK.—A paper of great interest on the changes which take place in the metabolism of the body during severe mental work has been published by Prof. V. Suk of the Masaryk University, Brno, Czechoslovakia (Bull. internal. de l'Acad. des Sc. de Bohême, Nov. 20, 1925). Prof. Suk took the following three groups of students: Group 1–29 men undergoing physical training in a teachers' college; group 2–31 members of the highest class in a gymnasium working for final examinations; group 3–31 members of another class also working for examinations. He kept these three groups under observation for three months, keeping a record of the amount of haemoglobin and of sugar in their blood. There was a slight increase on the percentage of hasmoglobin in those undergoing physical training while that in the brain-workers remained stationary. On the other hand, while the blood-sugar remained stationary in those who exercised their bodies, there was a fall of 36–38 per cent. in the sugar content of the blood in the brain-workers. Severe and prolonged mental toil, therefore, does interfere with the carbohydrate metabolism of the body. The exact mechanism by which the nervous system produces this change is not apparent, but it may be through an effect produced in the functions of the liver. It is well known that brain-workers are particularly liable to colds and other infections, and Prof. Suk suspects that this liability may arise from the reduction of their blood-sugar.
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Research Items. Nature 118, 132–134 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/118132a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/118132a0