THE RELATION OF THE ENDOCRINE GLANDS TO THE DISORDERS OF THE EAR, NOSE AND THROAT

One group of diseases of the ear, nose and throat are mechanical results of physical deformities, sometimes congenital, sometimes secondary effects of infections or other destructive agencies, sometimes the results of glandular hyperplasias or abnormal growth of cartilage and connective tissues. A second group of diseases of these regions are the infections. A third group seems to be due essentially to disturbances in the circulation. This applies particularly to the nose, and in some cases to the middle ear. With these circulatory disturbances are frequently associated abnormal irritability of sensory nerves leading to excess reflexes of various kinds. We have what may be called primary hypertrophy of the lymphoid tissues of the nose and throat, that is, the adenoids and the tonsils. The hypertrophy is at times of obscure origin, possibly dietary or irritative, but not certainly related to acute infections. Finally, there is the so-called sclerosis of the internal