The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-05-26
FOR FAT PEOPLE.
THE CAUSE AND TREATMENT
or OBESITY.
eIsmarek's Private Physician Dis.
courses Upon Corpuisney and How
Il Can BE Cured What Fat People
May Eat.

In Germany rests upon wholly diff
ferent footing, this alone should enti-
tie him to be heard with respect
! whenever he has consolatory mes
sage to deliver to sick and suffering
humanity. OF late years he has de-
voted his attention TO the annihila-
| ton Of the ills TO which well fed flesh
Is heir, and has published his views
in an article entitled Cure and
| Cures" His treatment Of obesity is
the outcome OF his views on its ma
ture and origin.
AS to the causes that produce en-
bonpoint, Professor Schweninger
holds that they are legion. Among
the most frequent and effica cious,
| however, he enumerates mental indo-
lence-leannes being characteristic
OF the thinker; lack Of physical ex-
ercise, sedentary life, too much
sleep, badly lighted and badly venti-
lated rooms, which promote corpul-
ency by impeding the organic process
OF combustion. But by far the most
effective cause is eating and drinking;
an increased supply Of food, VIII lie
consumption and secretion remain
the same or diminish, of necessity
augment the weight Of the body and
lead to an accumulation Of fat.
The German physician lays great
store by his method Of treating
obesity and condemns those Of all his
predecessors, who lay too little weight
upon details and upon the necessity
of adjusting and modifying their pre-
scriptions in accordance with the
varying needs Of the patient. Food,
he holds, plays an important part in
the cure Of corpulency, not, however,
merely by reason Of its chemical
composition, but in various other re-
spects. Thus, the amount Of liquid
food, the times and frequency Of
meals, their mixture and temperature,
the relation between the quantity OF
nourishment taken and the amount
Of work done by the patient are
mo re important factors in the eyes
Of DIR. Schweninger than the ques-
tion Of allowing or forbidding any
pa rticular edible.
Attention should also be paid to
mental activity, to exercise, repose.
clothing, dwelling, to the general and
local distribution Of the blood, to
secretion and excretion, to sleep, to
the weight and measurement of the
whole body and Of certain parts
OF it.
The treatment is not at all drastic.
In the first place, the progress made
during the cure must be verified and
controlled mt every stage by means
OF weight and measurement, both Of
which, of course, are relative. And
first weight.
At least once week the girth Of
the body should be measured round
the chest and the abdomen. The
girth round the abdomen decreases
in direct proportion to the weight,
one kilogramme of the latter cor
responding to ten centimetres of the
former. The girth round the chest
decreases much rlore slowly. The
face often reveals burrows and
wrinkles during and even after the
cure, which had no existence before
and ladies especially are apt to wax
wroth at the awkward discovery. 1t
must be borne with, however, the
professor tells them, but only for n
time. The wrinkles will certainly
disappear if only the patient show
herself worthy of that name.
At the very beginning Of the cure
the stout man must cast of all cloth
ing OF kind calculated to exert Il
pressure on the body, to impede free
circulation and hinder the process Of
combustion.
The next prescription is partial cold
water applications, which we are as
sured come as boon and blessing
to the patient whose body, "being
isolated from the outer world by a
dense LAYER of fat. that is, by n very
bad conductor OF heat" can with
difficulty free itself from the redund-
ant warmth and longs for n cooling.
As mechanical causes contribute
to obesity, mechanical action must
be enlisted in the service of the suf-
fereY from it. Walking working,
gymnastics, are beneficial, in moder-
ation-the essential point being to
alternate physical exercise and re-
pose with mental. 1t is gross mis-
take to fancy that long walks, noun
tain tours. heavy rowing, bicycling
or skating for hours at n time are the
readiest means to lose flesh.
Moderate exercise, short walks,
dancing, swimming, rowing, and even
tree telling, are all excellent in mo-
deration, the golden rule being that
each individual should remain well
within the limits Of his physical cap
acity, although he may, of course,
aim ut extending 1t gently and gradu-
ally. But all exercise should be of
short duration and followed by real
repose, which same repose consists
in something more than mere cessa-
ton from previous effort, and in
cludes change of position. Thus
sitting is not the appropriate kind Of
rest that should be INDUCED in after
walk, but lying, because in both
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