Henry R. Harrower, MD (April 30, 1883-January 2, 1953) Organotherapist
submitted by Alan Rogol
Henry Harrower, an entrepreneurial organotherapist, organized the founding of the Association for the Study of Internal Secretions in 1917, renamed the Endocrine Society. He edited Endocrinology for the first two volumes and was at the center of disagreements between the organotherapists with business interests and the academic scientists. He promulgated the principles of homostimulation, “like” (from an animal) replaces the patient’s missing activity (e.g., thyroid) and the wild speculation of the alliterative Harrower’s Hypothesis of Hormone Hunger, that is, the body would select what is required to restore health from a multi-glandular mixture, but any excess would be harmlessly excreted [Practical Endocrinology, 2nd ed, 1932, pp. 66-68]. His claims were viciously assaulted by Harvey Cushing labeling organotherapists as endocriminologists.