Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1883-05-12

One by one the ~fancies and romantnc su
pers:itions of old are coming to sr'ef under
the calm scrutiny and merclless dissection
of modern science. Poets have sung and
maidens have sobbed over the death o.
| lovers from broken hears. And nov to be
told that death from such a cause IS weii
night impossible is almost too much.
But this is what a prominent doctor has
ventured to tell US. "A healthy heart he
said. lis only a big muscle. and aobody can
grieve enough to break It When, there
fore, q blooming widow shows apparently
inconeeivable grief at the death OF her
husband, and in q short time shows her
%equanimity. she ought not to be accused OF
hypocrisy. Neither may 1t be concluded
that another widow who soon pines AND dies
has had more affection for her husband than
the first. The first widow nay nave had
even more affection than the other, but have
been sustained by physical health.
This is a chilling statement OF facts and
will tend to dissipate many OF the existing
uutlous AOOut AUalTS OF the Heai@ II
doctor who is quoted above says that greet
is rarely the cause Of heart breaking. His
theory is that the prostration caused by a
sudden sorrow may affect the heart, pro-
viding that that organ is already diseased Or
impaired IN its functions. Women are sup
posed to be more liable to cardiac troubles
as the result of bereavement than men and
get it is a fact that more men die of heart
| disease than women. One record OF cases
| observed showed that out OF sixty-one cases
of death from heart disease, thirty seven
we're males. Another record showed seven
teen males out of twenty-four cases
Another record showed that in sixty.two
cases Of rupture of the heart there was fatty
degeneration existing. 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 illustrations of
heart breaking. One medical observer
records 100 cases Of rupture of the heart
where there was no grief to account for it,
And so it. seems that disease, and not
grief, is the real cause of heart breaking.
"a healthy heart is only a big muscle it
is susceptible to the influences of ordinary
conditions of health or disease and nothing
more. The heart broken" maiden who
loses her lover, pines away and dies. is
simply a victim of dyspepsia or congestion.
1t was not a sudden nap of the heart
strings that took her on not at all: it was
a defective liver or a pneumonia affection.
1t is a curious fact" says our medical au-
thority, that the least dangerous heart dis
ease often creates the most apprehension.
Frequently patients who have only a tunc-
tional or durable disorder will not be per
suaded that calamity does not impend,
although there may be no real danger. On
the other hand, organic disease may exist
unsupported. There are sympathetic rela-
tons between the mind and heart, and
disorders of the heart are frequently trace
able to mental excitement. either pleasure
BILE or painful. Quick beating Of the heart
is no certain SYMPTOM of danger, 1t has
been demonstrated that the pulse may
safely range from 100 to lao per minute
for many years"