Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

1-1930

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Physiology and Biophysics

Subject

Cocaine--Physiological effect; Blood--Effect of drugs on

Abstract

This investigation was carried out in an attempt to determine the nature of some of the physiological changes, particularly the shift in the water balance during the rise in temperature following pyretic doses of cocaine. It is well known that cocaine in sufficiently large doses produces an almost immediate and rapid rise in body temperature associated with increased metabolism and motor activity. Reichert (1). The increased motor activity becomes evident soon after the injection of the cocaine. Extreme restlessness, muscle twitching and tremor progressing into clonic convulsions may be observed. Barbour and Moise (2) have shown in dogs given pyretic doses of cocaine that the percentage of blood solids and red blood cells both increase coincidentally with the rise in temperature. Later Barbour (3) has shown more conclusively that during the rise in temperature following cocaine in dogs there is a loss of fluid from the blood stream as the specific gravity of both whole blood and plasma is increased. Barbour and Moise (2) state that the disturbance thus produced in the heat eliminating mechanism of the organism by the concentrated blood is of greater significance for the production of fever than the muscular activity. (Otherwise ordinary exercise would produce high fever.)

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