The record-union., 1895-04-15
ATHLETIC RXCESSRS.
The Danger, Especially to the Heart.
of Too Much Physical Exarcisa

L
Of Too Much Physical Exercise.
The Maryland Medical Journal gives a
synopsis OF a paper on the "OYertax ed
Heart of Athletes" recently read before a
meeting of the Academic de Medicine at
Lyons, France, by NJ. Teissier. On ex-
aminIng ten runners who had reached the
goal, Nj. Teissier says: 1.-The apex OF the
heart appeared to have deviated to the
right from two to three centimeters; in
one man affected with oartic insutficiency
who came IN second without fatigue the
apex was lowered, and, as consequence
OF this deviation, the base remaining
fixed, notable increase of the precordiaI
dullness was observed. This increase was
evidently connected with a dIlatation of
| the right cavities, as was shown by the
results of ausculation. The cardiographic
outlines collected showed the brevity of
the systole and its sharpness; the charac-
terlsuc Of the beating ofthe forced heart de-
scrlbed by NJ. Pitres were found. Among
all the men the arterial pressure was low
cred at least six centimeters.
The mechanism OF this phenomenon.
says NJ. IelssIer, seems to relate to over
taxing, to general fatigue and to secreted
toxic products. There is certain degree
of muscular overexcita bility which ap-
pears to be due to toxic products accumu-
lated in the blood. There is slight but
constant dimlnution of faradic excitabil-
ity and an increase of galvanic contract
ility; the patellar reflex always disap-
pears. IN two-thirds of the subjects ex-
amined there was appreciable albumi-
nuria, with au increase of the proportion
of urea. These results, says NJ. Teissier.
seem to establish the fact that athletic
exercises are not free from danger when
carried to an extreme.
From this it may be seen that scientific
men are settling in a thorough way the
q lrSf
s1ye athletic exercises. In language freed
from technical terms NJ. Teissier found
that runners suffered in CONSEQUENCE of
their exertions from heart displacement:
that one runner, who had a small artery
leading from the heart, had the right
cavities OF the heart enlarged; the instru-
ment for measuring the beats of the heart
showed the peculiar and undesirable feat
ures which had previously been observed
in similar cases by other observers.
! Arterial pressure was lowered in all the
runners, and NJ. Teissier ascribes this to
over-exertlon. general fatigue, and to the
| accumulation of poisonous products in
! the blood as result.
Professional athletes know how irving
are exertions in their lines when contin-
ed over series of years. One of the best
and most successful athletes Baltimore
ever knew once declared that after an
athlete passed thirty years of age he de-
SAAhON III aOllILy W successfully compete
with younger men. Athletic sports were
| originally encouraged by colleges to COM
bat the sedentary habits of students, and
they have done great work in causing
the vast majority OF those at schools and
colleges, male and female, to take bene-
| hcial exercise. In this, as in nearly
every other Interest in life, there is a
golden mean, which is the safe and desir-
able course. Excesses in athletics, as in
other things, are to be voided.-Balti-
more Sun.