The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-10-15
HEALTHFUL OLD AGE.
STATISTICS BEARING UPON THE
QUESTION LONGEVITY ~ -
Some OF the Requisites for Long Life" -
Changes Which Normally Occur in
Old Age-How the Bones Are
ARected-Over- Feeding.
Medical Record.l

With every year the average duration
of life is increased and we have more old
people on our hands Naturally, the
question becomes of increasing interest
How shall we secure a healthful old age,
and how can we prolong in comfort this
senility2
Some curious information regarding
this sub;e though more especially re-
earding what may be called "centenarian-
Ism, has been published by a gentleman
of Syracuse, y. Y. who, we are in
formed, has collected the histories of i0.-
900 people that have passed the age of 100
years. According TO this authority, the
United States leads in centeuarian
longevity, while Connecticut is ahead
among the states. As to sex, women; as
10 occupation soldiers sailors, and
farmers arc the longest lived Among
the professions, 100 ministers thirty doc
tors, and ten lawyers reached their cen
tennial. sa' - f
OF more pract!ca and Scientific charac-
ter are the statistics regarding longevity
obtained by the British Collective lnvesti-
CATION commits &C These are based upon
over 500 returns, and relate TO persons
who have reashed or passed the age of 81. )"
Professor Humphrey of Cam bridge,
has given some interesting deductions
based upon these returns in an Grafton re-
Gently delivered. before the Medical Socl-
ETY. of London.
The first requisite for longevity must be
an inherent quality of endurance, some
thing which is Unborn and perhaps inner
tied 1t is noticeable that the phthisical
faint does not necessarially lessen the ca
pacitV for longevity. Among 800 aged
persons, phthisis appeared in fathers,
mothers, brothers, or sisters of 81, that is,
in about | Z per cent In one case both
father and mother were phthisicaI.
A second requisite for long life is free
~. nocN e
on this ground, in part, that more women
than men reach extreme age. Other rea-
sons. however, are, perhaps, a greater
natural vitality, since even In early lie
the mortality is less among females than
males 1t does not seem to be proved by
the data collected that short and small
men and women have any advantage over
those who are taller and larger. The
average height of old Englishmen is five
feet six inches, that of women five feet
three inches.
Professor Humphrey would limit quite
sharply the changes which normally
occur In old age They are quantitative
rather than palliative There is dimi-
mutton in material and force, with per-
haps a Slight increase in the oily matter
of the tissues all other changes are
pathological
Among the most marked of senile
changes are those of the bones. These
lose in weight, but not necessarily In size;
indeed they may even increase IN size by
a sub periosteal ossification. The interior
of the bones becomes SOftened and 1llled
with marrow; the walls become thinned.
The ends of the bones are particularly at
fected in this way, and hence the liability
of the bones 10 fracture at these parts.
The alveolar processes waste away, so
that in men above so the number OF
teeth is only six, while in women it is but
oil 1nn
thinner and lighter, In some cases, how.
ever. the skull walls are actually increased
i'm density and thickness by the osseous
denosits on the interior of the brain case.
t-ontrary to the generally received
view. the Cartilages of healthy old people
do not caicify and harden, but remain
elastic They, however, undergo some
atrophy. which accounts 1or the decrease
in height
In the same way Professor Humphrey
believes that Qualification OF arteries is moi
a process normal or common at advanced
age. Among 332 returns relating to th'
pulse. il was found incompresslble IN only
seventy-twO In 1872 returns, the arteries
were found knotty in only forty We
cannot, however place very much de
pendcnce upon such data
The rate of the heart beat In old age
has been said by some psychologists to DC
increased, by others to be diminished
The Collective cStlSatlon SHOWS ina
there is not much change From the ag
of to so it averages 1874 in men. 1915
in women. The respirations are a LITTLE
increased in frequency, especially il
women. Urinary troubles are a wei
known source of discomfort and sufferin!
among old people. They do not. how low
ever. necessarily attend the decline OF life
Among 15f males from so to SO years o
ace. only six had any disease of the pros
tate or bladder In the next half decade
however, the proportion was greater
In old people wounds are known eithe
to heal rapidly or to slough, The re
parative process is often as rapid as In tn
Sir Henry Thompson, in a recent arti
Gle on ~Diet in Relation to Age, ha
called attention to the harm that come
from attempts to overfeed old people
They are injured, he truly says, by tn
soIicitous relatives, who think that. il
feeding there is sure help forthe WANING
strength. The old need light diet t
correspond with the lessened work an!
slower nutrition and waste of thei