The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1899-01-14
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

FROM the Philadelphia Ledger.
1t would shock teetotaler to tell him
that coffee drinking is more injurious to
the human system than whisky drinking;
yet that is practically what Dr. Oliver P.
Rex, Medical Director of the Penn Mutual
Insurance Company, said to reporter of
the Ledger The medical gentlemen who
guard the interests of the insurance com
panies have done much to teach the pres
ent generation how to live Having the
best possible opportunities of studying ply
siologieal problems, they are able to draw
very accurate general conclusions from the
great number Of individual cases which
come under their observation as medical
examiners
The physician for an insurance com
pany always makes careful examination
Of the action Of the heart for organic or
functional arrangements If he finds an
organic trouble which cannot be removed
he usually turns down the applicant for
insurance He finds plenty of cases with
functional troubles, due to various causes,
which may be cured in greater or less time
BY removing the causes. He detects these
by listening to the heart beats; and to
well trained ear the variation of these
heart beats from the rhythm of healthy
heart indicates cause of the arrangement.
1t Is easy. Dr. Rex said, TO note the
difference between the bicycle heart,
whisky heart and coffee heart
These troubles are so frequently met with
By examiners that they are commonly
known by the above names The man or
woman who overexercises by riding biey-
Gle up hill, or 'scorching produces an
enlargement. or hypertrophy Of the heart.
The stimulation Of alcohol, tobacco, coffee
or tea affects the rhythm Of the beats,
\ heart beat consists of two sounds,
one long and one short, in the frst, blood
is filling the relaxed heart; in the second
the heart contracts with corkScrew mo-
tion and violently expel, the blood through
the arteries. Ii is essential to healthy
circulation that the first movement should
be completed, and the heart filled, before
the second Is begun Strong stimulants
disturb this regular action, shortening the
length of the long beat; and long con-
tinuance in their use may makes the de-
rangement permanent.
The best remedy, Of course, is to re-
move the cause. and the doctor referred
to several cases where marked beneficial
results were produced within short periods.
He would conine the use of coffee to two
cups a day Coffee topers are plentiful
and are a. much tied to their cups as the
whisky topper The effect of the coffee
upon the heart is more lasting, and conse-
auentiv worse than that of liquor. 1t 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 close Of a meal, when it
Is said to assist digestion. In this respect
it Is unlike tea, which, by its tannic acid,
prevents digestion.
Men and women alike suffer from too
much coffee. but men alone, in this coun
try. at least, are the sufferers from ''to-
bacco 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 nico-
tine in smoking which creates an addi-
tional disturbance Of the heart functions.
DR. Rex has found that smoking after the
day work Is done is less harmful than the
morning and midday cigar, In one or two
cases that he mentioned. gentlemen had
told him that by omitting smoking during
the day they found their brains clearer for
business aud their digestion improved.
Of course, it will be understood that as
the heart is the centre of the circulatory
system, any disturbance of the action must
affect every part of the body; and this in
turn produces disease in other organs. 1t
is not surprising, therefore, that the ex
amining surgeons of the army have re-
jected many fine looking fellows with to-
bacco hearts, and bicycle hearts, on the
ground that they would break down under
the strain of service in the field