Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-08-18
WHEN OLD AGE COMES
1T DEPENDS NOT UPON YEARS, BUT
UPON VITAL FORCE.

The Greatest Enemy to Long Life Is Self
Indulgence - Why People Of Advanced
Age Should Eat Sparirgly and Drink
More Freely.
Some men are 20 years younger phys
ically and mentally than others are at
the same age. It is self evident that old
age does not begin at any set time, SO
far as the divisions Of time divide the
periods of life, but that it has to do
with that subtle agent known as the
vital force, an acquaintance with which
enables the analytical mind to become
proficient in prognosis by weighing in
the balance the vitality on the one side
with the pathology on the other.
The indication of old age may be no.
ticed by ocular inspection. The figure
stoops, the walk is less elastic, the
rounded figure gives place to the spare
habit Of body, the wrinkle Of time
mounts the cheek, while the frost Of
many winters mantles the brow, The
typical healthy person who attains old
age is spare Of body, and old age en-
phasizes this fact by causing paucity
of adipose tissue. So the wrinkle Of
time, after all, is kindly in nature.
Physiologically we notice that a
diminution Of the physical energy is ac-
companied by corresponding diminu
tion Of the power to eliminate waste
material from the body. Elasticity and
strength give place to hardness and
brittleness of nearly all the tissues Of
the body. The general health may be
good, because there is a harmonious
balance between the action Of the nerv-
GUS system and the circulatory system.
However, the former is less responsive
to external stimulation, and the latter
is less vigorous in old age The vital
processes conducted by the circulation,
respiration and metabolic changes in
the tissues are less active. There are
diminished adaptability of the whole
system to changes in the environment
and less ability to meet the require
ments of emergencies, such as sudden
demands of muscular and mental strain.
The senile conditions and diseases are
numerous and obvious-in the first
place, weakened digestion and assimila-
tion. The weakened vigor of the circula-
tion and glandular system necessarily
weakens the power of eliminating
the excrementitious substances, which
gives rise to pernicious nutrition, and
that in turn is the cause Of the tendency
to develop malignant or benign growths
in different parts of the body in old age.
The strong tendency to overeat and
underdrink, together with the natural
decline Of functional power, gives rise
to condition of lithemia, which is the
prime cause OF the majority of deaths
in old age. In the healthy state that
great glandular furnace and chemical
laboratory, the liver, is capable Of trans
forming an excess Of nitrogenous matter,
which may result from metabolism Of
tissue or exist in the food consumed,
into the highly soluble excrementitious
substance known as urea. This excre-
ment is eliminated from the blood
mainly by the kidneys and to much
less extent by the skin.
Now, In old age, with the functional
power and natural vitality on the wane,
together with the strong tendency to
overlap this function Of the liver, we
find this waste is not converted into
urea, but into uric or ithic acid, COM
paratively insoluble excrementitious and
toxic substance, which if it appears in
the blood in sufficient quantity and is
long enough continued in circulation
through the urinary tubules sets up ir-
ritation and inflammation, which inev-
itably impair the function of the renal
epithelium, and we find this poisonous
substance is not eliminated from the
system, but accumulates in the blood.
This explains why old people are
almost universally troubled with disease
of the liver, kidneys, bladder and pros
tate gland The unstable circulation,
atheromatous changes and brittleness
of the walls Of the blood vessels, with
the tendency to overtax the digestive
apparatus, are the cause of many old peo-
pie going to "that bourn from which
no traveller returns" by the apoplectic
route.
Hereditary diseases naturally mani
fest themselves when the vitality is be-
low certain level, so we are not sur
prised to find certain dyscrasic and
latent tendencies manifesting them
selves at this period of life. when the
natural vitality is waning. The diseases
most frequently found to be the cause
of dissolution among the aged are pneu-
monia, diseases of the liver and urinary
organs, consumption, cancer, apoplexy
and gangrene.
The enemy to longevity, the author
continues, is self indulgence. People
who have reached an advanced age may
prolong their lives and greatly add to
the comfort Of their declining years by
diminishing the quantity Of food in
gested, thereby avoiding too large a
residue Of waste matter either in the
intestinal canal Or in the form Of excre-
mentitious matter in the blood.-Jour-
nal of American Medical Association.