The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-04-20
MEDlCALADVICE TOSMEN..

~. 'siA fANtsNoNAsh's AStts
semethlnE Abont the Use Of Alcoholic
st,mnina,. and Iiypno,is. Products.
Afer Forty Year a Man Need. only
Advice. n y, Il " Y ~ Sii;.
Medical Record: At tho February,
meeting. Of the Practitioner, Club DR.,
Henry +. Walker read a paper on "our
Counsel to Patients, Especially In the
Later Part Of Active Litel, He said:
s'sThere Is a saying that when q man
has reached forty years he should be
his own physician. and there Is much
truth in the adage. Experience should
have taught him the care which is. the
preventive Of disease. And a physl-
clans observation proves that this is
the fact. HIS practice Is chiefly among
the Very young md the ndoiescent,
with occasional severe Illnesses In such
natures as are strong by heredity, and
q more constant attendance on those
whose strength is ever crippled by. In
heritance OF lnhrnilty. b 81, Z.
Before forty, a man may need direc-
ton; after that, he should get on with
advice. Experience has taught him what
1t is possible TO do in given circum-
.stances:f but the most changeable thing
is himself. That factor In the situation
Ii an, element In reference to which the
.keenest Judgment Is apt to error. When
q youth. he considered himself mature,
while others were callow; at q later date
he calls himself young, though his con-
ltemporaries are old. The hardest thing
that he IL compelled to reaNze Is that
changes occur In himself; that a thing
which he has heretofore done with i'm
punlty may in time become hazardous
nrepetition. The morning cold plunge,
the going without an overcoat, the re-
fusal OF extra footwear--any or oil may
become hazards to health. "a 81
q ~ 81 When Ago Comes OH.
"If a man be really aged, exposure to
cold no longer invlgorates., Tor him,
protection against external cold must
be greater and the house must be
warmer, Warmth Is better than exer-
else, and abstinence better than such
an amount Of food as makes exercise
Imperative. tits often quite difficult to
persuade an aged person or his friends
that exercise In the open air Is not alb
,solutely essential to well being, or that
the flreside Is more invigorating than
the cutting wind OF O brilliant winter
day. They quote experience against
you. Having always done a thing with
advantage, they can do 1t still, unmlnd-
full that the personal equation has
changed, and that an element once O
friend TO buffet may become q foe that
kills. 7, e - a 4
the elements, the one the most
harmful to old ageis cold. They starve
with II. to use the old English phrase.
But, luckily. It is the element we can
most successfully guard against. We
can maintain fitting bodily warmth by
clothing, and at night at least, We can
regulate the temperature Of the air we
breathe. To the old, as well as to the
very young. a mild heat for the sleep
Ing room is, better than the hap-hazard
temperature given by an open window.
That he has always slept with the win
dows open, no matter what the weather.
is boosted by man who demands an
overcoat and a fur cap in waking hours,
without seeing his inconsistency. There
Is o great deal Of nonsense talked about
the need of fresh (meaning OPEN air in
the Sleeping room. You can constantly
cherish O catarrh with 1t. Nansen, in
his sleeping bag. has proved that one
can survive and thrive with q modIcum
oft. y, ~ z y "a n
But the hazards to which the man.
who. has <, reached the time when he
should be his own physician is exposed
are less those of external than internal
origin. a iilsS {. Z &
s He is past the time. when he would
be backed for a contest in the prize
ring, and that means that he is past
the time OF greatest physical vigor. Of
course there are compensations. To
diminished physical
force he has higher intellectual attain
ments and greater capacity for mental
labor, by dlnt of training and expert
ence. But experience and training have
brought with them greater demands
upon his strength. II q man OF ability,
he has the burdens OF others to carry,
as we'll as his own. The willing worker
has always enough to do for. others.l
Each years adds to responsibilities
which he assumes through his own or
others necessities, or by choice through
ambition. And each year gives him a
body little less In strength by, which
to carry them The change may be
slight, but It Is actual. The conse-
quence is that with Increased work and
weakened body, aid which is harmful is
often sought There are two things
which threaten such q mans comfort;
half or wholly recognized diminished
physical strength to do increasing work.
and the lnabaility to get abundant
sleep or enough sleep for full refresh-
ment. q e
The Use Of Alcoholic stImulamts.
Il think that the greatest hazards to
a mans character are likely to come az
ter he has passed forty-five years Of
age. He has become more lenient in
his judgment OF others, and isIlikely to
be more indulgent TO himself. To speak
OF things wholly physical he has then
the temptation to both stimulants and
narcotics Cor hypnotics) In the highest
degree. And those temptations come to
him when he is acting. chiefly, as his
own physician. If q young fellow be-
comes q drunkurd before he Is thirty,
and goes to the devil prematurc!y, you
can usually find for him the plea OF
heredity. But there Is many man
who has passed thirty years and forty
safely. who In the next decade succumbs
to alcohol because he needs a brace to
help him transact the business which
the close work OF previous years has
brought to him. He takes to alcohol,
not in the .convivial way, but to help
him over a hard place: and he takes It
In Just the worst manner, without &C.
food, and when food would
likely be ,distasteful, or ever harmful,
by nervous preoccupation. The after
noon drink to tide him over weary
day joins to Itself earlier potlons when
business presses. and the morning cock