Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-14
DON'T sTOOP FOR WARD.
Advice on the Subject From a
Reliable Source.

Everyone knows that stopping for
ward, particularly after rising Quickly
from the bed in the morning, when
the stomach is empty and the heart
has less than ordinary support from
the vicera below the diaphragm is
very apt to occasion form Of faint
ness, with vertigo, not unlike that
which occurs in sea-sickness. We do
not at the moment speak of the faint
ness and giddiness from cerebral
an@mia, which are directly conseqent
upon suddenly assuming the erect
after long continuing in the recum-
bent posture, but of the more alarm
ing sensation Of being in the center of
objects which are rapidly passing
away. usually from left to right, with
loss of power to stand or even sit,
and an almost nightmare feeling OF
inability to call for help or do any
thing to avert a catastrophe, while
throughout the experience the sufferer
retains painfully acute consciousness.
This, we say, is familiar as one, at
least, of the effects not uncommonly
produced by STOPPING forward under
the special conditions indicated.
With many other varities of
the vertigo consequent upon heart
weakness or cerebral en@mia,
observation or experience has made
US all acquainted. We can not,
however, help thinking that the con
sequence of even partial compression
of veins of the neck, offering an OBJ
stacle to the return of blood from the
head, with its important organs, are
not so we'll recognized. The peculiar
form-or, more accurately, the several
forms-of headache distinctly caused
in this way when the head is long
bowed forward on the chest, bending
the neck in itself, cannot fail to occur
to every one; nor will the high ten
sion of the eyeball, the turged and
heavy eyelids. the snuffing nose, the
deafness, with buzzing or throbbing in
the ears, the heavy breathing and the
pulled and perhaps flushed or dark
ened color Of the face, resulting from
the obstructed venous circulation
through the bended neck, be forgot
ten. There are other and more peril
GUS, though secondary, effects of lean
ing forward when the neck is weak.
or the blood-vessels are not SO strong
as they ought to be, which should not
be overlooked. Beyond question, the
extra strain thrown upon the appara-
tus of the circulation by anything
that impedes the free passage of the
blood through almost any part of the
venous system is more severe and
dangerous than physically equal
strain thrown on the arteries. Atleast,
! this is SO in adult life, and, without
going further into details in connec-
ton with the modus operandi of the
mischief to which we point, it may be
permissible to urge that the subject is
one to which attention may be USE
fully directed. The weakly and those
who are not unlikely to have hearts
readily overburdened and blood-ves-
sells stretched beyond recovery, OF
even ruptured, should be warned
quite as earnestly against suddenly
assuming, or too long retaining, any
postures which do--however slightly
and partially-impede the return oi
blood through the veins. We know how
prolonged sitting may cause the
veins Of the legs to distend and either
give way or permit the extrayasation
Of their contents. When this sort OF
thing happens, even though in trif1ing
degree, in the case OF vessels directly
connected with such delicate organs
as the eye, the ear and the brain, ii
is easy to see that the results may be
very serious in their character; and
probably lew postures com.
monty taken up by persons
who lead somewhat sedentary lives are
SO prone to do mischief unnoticed al
that Of leaning forward as at work a
table which is not sufficiently higf
insure the head being so raised thai
the veins OF the neck may not be il
ony way compressed or the return o
blood from the head embarrassed O.
!, delayed. We see reason to believe
that if this apparently small matte
were generally understood, Their
wonld be fewer head and hear
troubles, and we will go SO far as +
: far as to say that some lives now los
Il n~,xl1 10 .-l1.