Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-10-28
SCHWENINGER'S FAT CURE.
The Treatment sor Obesity That
Cured Prince Bismarck.


known in this country until very recent
ly concerning the Schweninser system
of treatment for obesity was that 1t had
been wondrously effective in reducing
the abnormal adipose tissue OF Prince
Bismarck and various other emlpehtiy
respectable Germans. His remarkably
uniform success in eifecting cures dla
not prevent jealous colleagues in Ger
many and this country from scottlng at
him and deriding his treatment as
humbug.
In the early part Of June last ply.
sician who had been for a number of
years one of the physicians of the Board
of Health, and was in possession of good
private practice, went to Europe for the
sole purpose of investigating the
Schweninger treatment, learning accu-
rately what it was, and satisfying him.
self by inquiry of patients how far it
had really been successful. About q
fortnight ago he returned, having ac.
complished the object of his journey,
and become profound believer 10
Schweninger and his system. Conyers.
ing on the subject with representative
of the Sun, he said:
CDR. SchweniDgers system of diet is
the most simple of all. Indeed, | might
almost say that there is no dieting for
there is none in the sense in which that
word is employed in other systems. The
application of his treatment varies &C.
cording to the conditions of each indi-
vidual case. Iu one, the use of starchy
food and within certain liberal
limitations-will be allowed, while in
another the Hydrocarbons will be rigidly
excluded from the bill of fare, at least
until their permissibility is clearly indi.
Gated by certain changes in the physical
conditions. The great primary thing
that must determine the method of treat
ment in each case is the condition of the
patients kidneys and heart. By the
healthfulness or debility of thoee organs
the whole treatment must be regulated
in all regards of quantity, character and
proportions of food. That is why DR..
Sohweninger's system cannot be made
matter of popular knowledge and self.
practice. When two human beings are
found whose physical conditions are in
all respects exactly alike, then, and for
those two only, it will be practicable to
make common treatment for obesity or
any other disease. The mortality among
those who pin their fail to the delusive
simplicity of the Every. his.own-
doctor books AID the financial disasters
of those who steer their business barks
by the fantastic advice of tho Every
man-his-o n-lawyer' books, are pretty
certain to be paralleled by the grievous
disappointmetts of those who seek to get
rid of their superfuous fat by following
khA H.
of the various systems that tell you just
what you should eat, what avoid, when
to eat, and how much, etc.
''An excess of fat is simply a disease,
the product of abnormal conditions of
vital organs, and in each case the steps
necessary to restore those organs to
healthfulness must be peculiar to itself.
The practitioner must know what con-
ditions must produce that fat, and then
must at once arrest its accumulation and
reform the perverted energies of the
organs that have been its cause. The
absorption of an excess of adipose is
not difficult to effect. That can be
achieved by any one of score of sys-
TENS, II the patient has the self-denial
to follow them. But the trouble with
all of them is that the hour in which
the pa lent relaxes his dieting and ven
lures to enjoy, even in the most moder-
ate degree, the pleasures of the table,
he begins to regain fat faster than he
lost it. That is because he has simply
forced the body to live upon its accup'-
ulated fat, and has not cured the dis.
eased tendency to manufacture the fat.
That is where the Schweninger treat.
ment is superior to all others. 1 talked
their experiences over exhaustively with
sixty.three persons who had been cured
by the Schweninger system for excessive
obesity, all of them. having been re.
duced as far as they desired to be, had
given up the treatment months before l
saw them. and had gone back to their
previous habits of life, and in not one
instance did l find that there had been
a return to the accumulation of fat,
while in all cases their continued enj oy-
ment of healthful vigor consequent up.
on the rehabilitation of the vital organs
was such that, as they frequently ex-
pressed it, they seemed to have got a
new life.
"But to return to the question you
asked me about the general features of
the treatment. Well, the one thing
that is applicable to all cases is the re-
duction to the lowest practicable limit
of the absorption of fluids. The patient
mu0t absolutely stop drinking water
except at fixed hours and under certain
conditions. There must be no drinking
of water with meals. No, nor no tea,
which is Objectionable on account of the
tannin it contains as we'll as by reason
Of ;te Amid ohar nh nd
any, coffee-better none at all. Stop
beer! Well, should say so, and water.
melons, too. In Short all watery things
should be let alone as far as possible.
"With regard to animal fat in the hu.
man body, Dr. Schweninger agrees with
Professor Erbsteln, and consequently ad-
mits of the use of certain fat meats, but
he forbids others, not because they make
fat themselves, bat for the reason that
they have otherwise evil effects and mill.
tate against the attainment Of that per-
feet healthy condition which is the basis
of his cure. The fat of fresh beef and
mutton he recommends, but forbids that
of ham, bacon, fresh pork, and, gener.
ally. that of corned beef
''Soups are, in general way, objec.
tionable on account of the water; but if
so reduced as to have very much nutri-
ment in very little water, small quan:
titles of bullion, mutton broth and
chicken broth are all allowable. Fish
is allowed at any time, prepared in any
way, and as much as the patient wants
OF it. Pastry is, of course. forbidden,
more be cause of the indigestibility of it
than its directly making fat, however.
That is about all that can be said in a
general way of the dietary system, and,
for the reasons have already given, a
particularized table of rules under the
Schweninger system is simply an impes-
sibility.
a.Ie un,, uant n fima.fahla nd diataru