The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-09-11
THE HEARTS OF WOMEN.
Weakness Found in Them by the Doc
tors.

The records of the examining physi-
clans in the womens gymnasiums all
over the country show a surprising
iact-the most prevalent organic dis
ease among women is heart trouble.
The records kept at Berkeley and Palo
Alto fall in with the general result, and
there are found 10 be more women
than men who suffer from some kind
of heart trouble The causes of "heart
failure" are many, just as there are
many causes Of any kind Of muscular
weakness. One cause, possibly the
most frequent, is the habit of tight
lacing, which still prevails to an abom-
Unable extent, although, happily, il is
diminishing just now, the ratio Of
brains and waists being in proportion;
that is, the larger the brain the larger
the waist, and Oice 0eySa. Another
reason for heart trouble among women
is that girls do not exercise properly,
and the circulation OF the blood is i'm
paired.
The heart is really hollow muscle,
divided into four chambers, whose
openings are fitted with little trap
doors, which open and close with Won
derful eXactness, and which are pre-
vented from swinging too far by delicate
muscles. Any OF the parts of the heart
may become weakened, and serious
trouble is sure to follow. Had
we in place Of hearts dllated blood
vessels, like the worm, or better-de-
veloped hearts, like that of the bird,
we might escape number of heart
arrangements.
Any woman who would like to see
an enlarged copy of her own heart has
only to buy sleeps heart Imagine
1t to be the size of your fist and lying
in the left middle cavity of your chest
just behind the breast bone and ribs.
Cut this sleeps heart lengthwise on
each side and examine its structure.
One of the large chambers has thin
walls, the other has walls more than
twice as thick There are two small
chambers above which open into the
larger ones with the same valuable ad.
jusuments and little cords
If the valves in the human heart get
rough on their edges by inflammation
or by deposit from the blood, or if
the cords become loose so that the
valves swing in too far, the blood will
leap back into the cavity whence ii has
been pumped by the regular contrac-
ton Of the heart. The continuance of
this forms one serious organic disease
of the heart A woman may think her
lungs are weak because she pufs and
pants in going up stairs or in climbing
a hill. Most likely the trouble is with
the heart. On the other hand, she may
have palpitation and pains so sharp
that she thinks she may die at any
moment, when the real trouble is gas
eous dyspepsia. Her heart is sound,
but her dinner and her stomach are at
war.
But the kind of palpitation which
comes from fatty hearts is dangerous.
Fatty hearts exist in persons who have
led inactive lives; who have eaten,
drank and been merry. The internal
organs take on fat and pack their inter
cellular spaces with oil cells. Natur-
| ally the heart, which pumps all the
blood of the body through its chambers
hundreds of times an hour receives its
full share of fat from the blood. This
settles into the muscular walls and puts
an end to good cotractlon and dllation.
This is also the condition Of the hearts
of drunkards and Of people who have
taken more alcohol into their systems
than can be eXcreted.
When the heart is beating too fast
a woman ought to stop in whatever she
is doing and take slow leg movements.
The movement called Preparation for
Jumping" is good one. You rise on
your toes, holding the hands on the
hips with the fingers forward. Bend
your knees outward and downward, and
rise on your toes again. This should
be repeated three times very slowly.
| Another movement good for palpita-
tatlon is to lean against doorway and
rotate both legs alternately, beginning
with the ankle, then slowly letting the
| "hOiS lNS iObaNN III Siildll IINiG.
| Another movement is to lie on flat
surface and make knee bendings alter.
mating right with left, very slowly and
thoroughly.
| Continuing the exercise, stand erect
with the hands at the side and heels to-
gether, with the toes turned out Raise
the arms slowly outward, palms down,
arms perfectly parallel and downward,
taking meantime a full deep breath.
Another exercise which any woman
can take without any preparation is to
stand with heels together and raise the
arms outward to a level with the shoul.
ders and then slowly rotate them. The
head should bend backward, the chest
should be well arched, and there
should be long inspiration with each
rotation.
Many motions much more violent
= can be taken when heart disease is in
, its incipient stages, Many exercises
S are capable of arresting further devel-
opment of vaivular trouble and of pre-
venting the deposit of fat. Climbing
hills, going up stairs slowly with good