Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1889-05-04
How to ProI0ng Life.

How to prolong human life is ques-
ton OF personal interest to every man,
and the duty of attempting TO do so is
one that particularly rests with the
medical profession. When an individual
has attained to full development and
sound health say at 40-the expect
ancy Of life may be twenty-five or thirty
years; for the individual there are great
risks, but with the aggregate of man
kind such questions may be calculated
with business-like accuracy. There are
two great factors which concern the
prolongation of human life-the in
heritance and the conditions which
make up life of history of the individ-
ual. The inheritance Of longevity from
one or both parents is a powerful factor,
and one that carries great weight with
life insurance Offices. This is more
important factor than an infancy free of
weakness, provided that the infantile
ailments be dependent upon temporary
conditions OF defective nutrition, or con-
ditions incident to the stages OF develop
ment only.
There is no doubt as to the import
ance of the habits of life affecting lon
gevity; temperance in right things, in
activity and in restraint, in regularity
in morning rising and in work as well
as in resting and sleeping; uniform in
dustry is as conducive to health as is
regularity in diet.
From the period Of infancy upward
sound and well-knit brain has much to
do with the performance of a healthy
constitution. The relation of diet to
longevity has often been discussed; we
can only say here that the diet should
be adapted, in quality and in kind, to
the work of the individual; while such
articles as alcohol, tobacco, and tea, if
used at all, should be employed in mod
Grafton by those who wish for staple
constitution and prolonged life. Pass
ing over such important considerations
as being familiar to most members of
the profession, we come to the great
question of the causes of wear in life
the outcome of the frictions of life
which all must meet with more or less.
The various factors ut work, especially
in town life, make impressions on the
brain which leads to fatigue and prema-
ture wear. The strong-brained indi-
V1Qual may uOG Do uuTb lu6E0Uy Lu0
weaker man is exhausted by such i'm
pressions from without, and a second
generation under such influences is
likely to suffer through loss of tone and
vitality, in cell structures rather than
actual stature or measurement. City
life necessarily produces rapid and I'M
ceasing series of impressions, and calls
for constant exertion. The laws of
sanitation and cerebral hygiene should,
then, be carefully studied. It is de-
sirable to have what quietness is posi-
BILE during brain work, and the neces-
sity for proper ventilation as means OF
maintaining mental energy is well
known. 1t might lessen brain wear in
many offices if electric lighting were
substituted for gas illumination. Good
digestion is essential to continued work
with good lasting power. Late rising
and still more hurried luncheon and
rush back to work, followed, at the con-
clusion of the day, by heavy meal
when the man is wearied, often tends to
exhaustion as much as unavoidable pres
sure of business. 80 British Medical
Tn9ya.oanI