BASAL METABOLISM AND PREFORMED AND TOTAL CREATININE IN URINE OF SEVENTY CHILDREN

In view of the growing interest in the relation between basal metabolism and the urinary output of preformed and total creatinine, the present report was prepared from the values which have appeared in previous publications by my co-workers and me, supplemented by our unpublished data. As early as 1914 Palmer and his collaborators¹ pointed out the possibility of using urinary creatinine as a basis for the evaluation of basal metabolism. In a study conducted on 31 men and 21 women Takahira² found that the urinary creatinine was proportional not only to body weight but to the basal metabolism as well. Guhr³ also demonstrated a definite relation between excretion of creatinine and basal metabolism in his patients with thyroid disease. However, the author pointed out that this relationship did not exist in patients treated with either roentgen rays or radium. In cases of exophthalmic goiter Eimer⁴ failed