Thyroid extract, effect metabolism

Attitudes about weight had changed somewhat by 1893 when the first diet pill was marketed. The pill was a thyroid extract sold under names like Frank J. Kellogg s Safe Fat Reducer. People lost weight. However, there were dangerous side effects for people who did not have a hypothyroid condition. Hypothyroidism is a glandular condition characterized by an impaired rate of metabolism. 

This hormone is secreted by the parathyroid glands, which are four in number and lie on the posterior surface of the thyroid gland. The exact manner in which the hormone exerts its action upon calcium and phosphorus metabolism has not been proved satisfactorily, but the most immediate effect of administration of parathyroid extract which has been generally observed is an increased excretion of phosphorus in the urine, which is accompanied by a lowering of the serum inorganic phosphate. The increase in the urinary phosphate excretion has been ascribed by Harrison and Har-... 

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