Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-04-12
Hhx Hearts Break.

ga healthy man or woman does not die
of broken heart" a well-known physi-
clan said. GA healthy heart is only big
muscle, and nobody can have grief
enough to break it. When, therefore, a
blooming young widow shows apparently
iDconceivable grief at the death of her
husband, and in a short time RECEIVERS
her equanimity, she ought not to be &C
cused of hypocrisy. Neither may it be
concluded that another widow who soon
pines and dies has had more affection for
her husband than the first. The first
widow may have had even more affection
than the other, but have been sustained
by physical health.
cit is erroneous to suppose that death
by heart disease is always sudden. It is
very commonly protracted for years, and
exists undecided by most skillful physi-
clans only to be developed by some sud
den occurrence. There was an eminent
physician of Brooklyn, in active practice,
who died within an hour of time when
he was about to lecture He was so well
that, after examination by skilled physi-
clans of frst-class insurance company,
he was declared to be perfectly sound,
and policy for $4,000 insurance on his
life reached his home before his body
was cold. The cause of his death was
mystery until the pOst-mOrtem eXamina-
ton, by DIR. John G. Johnson of Brook
lyn, showed that a little piece of chalky
deposit in the heart had become loosened
and formed an embolism. The man had
simply taken some specimens out of his
desk, and he died in his chair without
any excitement or undue effort. Any
little excitementm might have done it. The
exertion of grief might have done it, and
then his death would have been cited as
that from broken heart.
"So-called deaths from broken hearts
may be frequently traced in this way.
One exertiOn as well as another may
furnish the requisite elimination. Med
ical books are filled with instances of
death by heart disease during the per-
Torrance Of pleasurable natural func-
lions. When a man is nearly dead it is
easy to put on him the finishing stroke,
but it is inaccurate to give the finishing
stroke all the blame of his death. When
a woman loses her husband, or a girl
loses her lover, and by nervous exhaus-
ton, loss of Sleep lack of nourishment,
and of grief, weakens the action of her
heart, she is said to die of a broken heart,
but she has in fact died of very ordinary
disease.
'The case of Bill Poole, living for days
with ball in his heart, is often spoken
of as remarkable; but DR.. Flint records
a case where a man had a ball in his
heart for twenty years, and finally died
of pneumonia. Both these men had
healthy hearts, and could not have had
them broken by grief. Yet, in fact more
men than women die of heart disease.
Out of siXty-one observed cases thirty
seven were males. Another record
showed seventeen males out of twenty
four cases. Another record showed that
in sixty-two case of rupture of
the heart there was fatty degeneration
existing. One observer recorded seven
teen cases out of twenty-four where the
heart was ruptured, and where fatty de-
generation existed. In other words, when
fat is substituted for muscle. the organ is
easily broken. If any of these diseased
people had been subjected to sudden
grief they might have furnished illus
trations of heart breaking. One medical
observer records 100 cases of rupture of
the heart where there was no grief to ac-
count for it. In fact, grief is a very rare
cause of heart breaking.
Disease is the real cause of heart
breaking, and the various kinds of dis
ease which lead to 1T are so many that
volumes would be necessary to describe
them. The causes of these diseases are
manifold, and are very much under the
control of the individual. There are, of
course, hereditary, tendencies to heart
disease; but, aside from traumatic causes,
these tendencies may exist for years
without fatal result.
at is curious fact that the least dan
gerous heart disease often creates the
most apprehension. Frequently patients
who have only functional or durable
disorder will not be persuaded that ca
lamity does not imPehd, although there
may be no real danger. On the other
hand, organic disease may exist unsus
pected. There are sympathetic relations
between the mind and the heart, and
disorders of the heart are frequently
traceable to mental excitement, either
pleasurable or painful. Quick beating
of the heart is no certain symptom Of
danger. 1t has been demonstrated thai
the pulse may safely range from 100 t.
14O per minute for many years. IN. Y
Sun.
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