Arizona republican., 1898-08-06
WORSE THAN wH,sktY.
ImmOderate Coffee Drinking Affects
 Ones Heart.

It would shock a teetOtaler to tell him that coffee drinking is more in furious to the human system than whiskey drinking, yet that is practi- cally what Dr. Oliver P. Rex, medical director of the Penn Mutual Insurance company, says. The medical gentle men who guard the interests ce the insurance companies have do-e much to teach the present -.rectticl how to live. Having the best opportunities iof studying physiological problems, they are able to draw very accurate general conclusions from the great number of individual cases which come under their observation as medi- cal examiners.
 The physician for an insurance com lpany always makes careful examina- tion of the action of the heart for or ganic or functional Arrangements. If he finds an organic trouble which can not be removed, he usually turns down" the applicant for insurance. He finds plenty of cases with function al troubles, due to various causes, which may be cured in greater or less time by removing the causes. He de- tects these by listening to the heart beats, and to well trained ear the variation of these heartbeats from the rhythm of healthy heart indicates one cause of the Arrangement.
 1t is easy, pr. Rex said, to note the difference between the bicycle heart "whiskey heart" and coffee heart'' These troubles are so ire quently met with by examiners that they are commonly known by the above names The man or woman who overexerc:ses by riding bicycle up hill, or "scorching," produces an enlargement, or hypertrophy, Of the heart. The stimulation of alcohol, to- lbacco, coffee, Or tea affects the rhythm of tho beats.
 A heartbeat consist of two sounds, one long and one short. In the first, blood is filling the relaxed heart; in the second, the heart contracts, with corkscrew motion and violently ex- pels the blood through the arteries. It is essential to a healthy circulation that the first movement should be com pleted and the heart filled, before the second is begun Strong stimulants disturb this regular action, shortening ithe length of the long beat, and long continuance in their use may make the Encouragement per manent.
 1 The best remedy, of course, is to re- move the cause, and the doctor re- i ferred to several cases where marked beneficial results. were produced with in short periods. He would cOnfne the use of coffee to two cups a day. Coffee topers are plentiful, and are as much tied to their cups as the whiskey toper. The effect of the coffee upon
 the heart is more lasting, and, conse- quently worse than that of liquor It
 is a powerful stimulant, and in certain
 cases of extreme weakness is more
 valuable than liquor As a beverage
 it is important to use it only at the lclose of meal, when it is said to as
 sist digestion. In this respect it is
 unlike tea. which, by it's tannic acid,
 prevents digestion.
 Men and women alike suffer from
 too much coffee, but men alone, in this
 country, at least, are the sufferers from tobacco heart" the result principally
 of smoking. There is not only the
 stimulus which comes from smoking
 and chewing alike, but there is the
 action of the nicotine in smoking,
 which creates an additional disturb ance Of the hearts functions. Dr. Rex
 has found that smoking after the days
 work is done is less harmful than the morning and midday cigar. In one
 or two cases that he mentioned, gen tlemen had told him that by oTnittin g smoking during the day they found
 their brains clearer for business and their digestion improved.
 Of course, it will be understood that as the heart is the center of the cir culatory system, any disturbance of } it's action must affect every part of the body; and this in turn produces dis ease in other organs. It is not sur
 prising, therefore, that examining sur
 geons of the army have rejected many
 fine looking fellows with tobacco
 hearts, and bicycle hearts, on the ground that they would break down under the strain of service in the field. Philadelphia Ledger.