Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-10
FLESH AS A. DISEASE.
A Certain Degree Of Adiposity is Good,
but More Is Dangerous,
WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE.
Figures That Grow Out Of the Experience
Of Insurance People.
PROPER AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED
WRITTEN ron THE DrspArcH. !

| ueu persons pcsih W Acsh UP tuey
| not only feel, but look we'll. women espec-
tally taking on q roundness Of outline
which is pleasant to the eve, sets off thei
costumes and lends certain dignity as we'll
as grace to their general appearance and
bearing. II the increase Of adiposity could
be kept at the first stage OF embonpoint
there would be NO risk in becoming little
| plump but ii cannot. Unless in rare cases
where the individual understands how to
check and restain the tendency to corpu.
lenoe within safe bounds, 1t steadily in
creases until 1t blots out altogether the
grace IL brought at frss.
| If this we're all there would be no hkrm
done, except to the personal vanity, which
might be borne with equanimtv. but obesity
leads 10 many different diseases which may
terminate fatally. The fatty heart Is most
TO be feared, as II IL slow. silent and often
quite unsuspeoted In It's progress, and too
frequently the cause Of that "heart failure"
which results In sudden death, usually In
persons who, 10 the unpractioed eye, have
every appearance Of sound health. When
tho circulation Of the heart 10 impeded by
| huperabundanee OF fat its action becomes
irregular, al times contracting with din.
Guilty, at others dllating under tho pressure
OF the sangulneous volume, and then be.
| comes diseased, hence the numerous deaths
| from heart failure. When O person In the
prime OF life suddenly drops dead through
abrupt cessation OF the hearts action It's
almost always observable that the victim 10
OF pletheFle habit
some Diseases 10 Ne Dreaded.
Apoplexy is another disease 10 whloh tbs
eorpulent are peculiarly iiabiej should such
show an inollnation 10 undue somnolency,
no time should be lost IN consulting q physi'
elan, as In oil human probability they have
passed beyond the point when dIstetio
measures alone will insure them from dan.
ger, Ihs liver, IN especial, shows great
tendency TO disease produced by too inuoh
fat, hence the so-ealled "fatty liver"
Diabetes Is q disease OF the lobules Of the
liver II 10 this portion Of the liver which
makes animal sugar. When we feed too ex.
clusively upon foods which produce sugar.
this part OF liver becomes over aotive aud
forms more sugar than the system requires,
and thus incites the kidneys 70 work OK.
cesslvaly TO carry 1t OF. This over excIta-
tion OF the liver and kinsys induces the dia-
betic condition, the seriousness of which 70.
qulres no insistenoe to the intelligent reader.
But Of all diseases none are more dreaded
by humanity than "Brighrs disease"
which Is nothing more nor less than
fatty disease of the kidneys, and is caused
by long-continued over-indulgence In veget-
able, saccharine and starchy foods which
produce fat. Dropsy Is not in itself dis
ease, but only symptom Of disease in vital
parts. Dropsy in the extremities indicates
disease of the heart or kidneys, or both.
Dropsy in the abdominal cavity indicates
disease in the portal glands. There are nu-
lacc fna 1adt tao caI l.
by obesity, such as gout. rheumatism and
an@mia-that is. morbid diminution of
the blood supply in the body. That Is Web
ster's definition OF an@mia-more strictly
medically speaking ii is change in the
quality-an impoverishment of the blood
caused by bad alimentation.
Not Intended for Hypochondriacs.
I do not desire to alarm the obese reader.
but only to awaken him or her from that
easy state of indifference to corpulence
which is the outcome of the hatterihg
JUNCTION each is liable to lay 10 his soul, "Mv
fat is healthy fat" Do not thus deceive
yourself No fat Is healthy if allowed to ex-
coed certain point. Nothing is more fire.
quently heard among the victims of corpu.
lence than this remark: "My stoutness is
inherited, and cannot hope to escape my
fate. My parents suffered as / do, and in
their later years attained enormous bulk. as
doubtless shall, however may struggle
against il"
But that is nonsense. Obesity and a
tendency to obesity are two very different
things. The latter may be inherited. but
the iormer cannot be. The predisposition
to the family bane comes, in some degree,
from the transmission of weakened organs
and impaired vital forces to the offspring of
the lat, and therefore it may be admitted
that. thus tar, a tendency is inherited.
Obesity is more frequently the product of
the eating Of food that ferments in the
stomach. OF course there are certain articles
OF food. Hydrocarbons, that are more readily
converted into adipose tissue than others
are; but, in general way, every ounce OF
vegetable food in excess Of SO much as can
readily be digested and assimilated has evil
consequences in the direction of corpulence,
We Digest With Our Stomaohs.
1t must be remembered that ours is q
meat-eating race. The survival of the fittest
or the toughest under adverse conditions
in many generations has produced a
special adaptation for an exclusively vege-
table diet in some peoples, notably the Hin
docs. Chinese and Japanese. Their pyloric
valves are permanently paralyzed, and the
rice they put into their HELPLESS hut indiffer-
Shs etomaChs - pIUnpti1 pdsseu al0ng 10
the duodenum and small inteatines, where il |
is digested, aud its putritive elements are
properly assimilated. But we are not built |
in that way. Our pyloric valves work.
The stomach Is meat eating organ, but |
when filled with a pylorus upon which 1t |
can place any reliance, endeavors honestly |
to do its duty upon whatever is supplied to |
it. By the time, however, it has dealt with |
the scattered fragments of meat in the or. |
dinary American meal, the mass OF yegeta-
BILE matter forced upon it has begun to fer |
ment. Volumes of earbonic acid gas rise |
from the acid mass In which the process Of |
fermentation has been started by germs of |
vinegary aud alcoholic yeasts already estab- |
Hshed on the coats of the stomach, and,
stimulated by the natural animal heat, often |
aided by deluges of hot liquids. The SEN
sation Of oppression In the stomach, pressure |
upon the heart, sufocatIon and sour stomach |
are the natural and quickly experienced |
consequences. The gas evolved has a di- |
reetly toxic effect, in addition to its in.
furious pressure, aud teuds to the speedy |
impairment of the funtions of stomach,
lungs and heart. Nature, as a measure Of |