The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-04-28
Medical Notes.
O>><r@cs e<@'~'>~~~|~NsrSNON<
NERVOUS EXHAUSTION.

Every thought and every action costs
every man or woman a certain amount.
more Or less of vital energy Life itself,
with it's possibilities of mental and bodily
activity, depends upon the existence in
the body of the individual of q certain
amount of potential energy, that is. a
latent or dormant power which is capable
OF being transformed into actual motion
or action when occasion demands if. and
= ts quite evident that if this potential
ehsrgy is constantly drawn upon. ani
none stored up to replace it. the mind
ana body will soon become poWerless
ana inertia will take the place of activi-
ty. AS occasions will sometimes arise
"hen extra force is required, it is also
eVldent that thele e must be a reserve sup
ply OF energy to meet these demands nor
can this reserve be repeatedly drawn l1non
With lmpunity. What the nature of thie
force is no one certainly knows, but it
is known that the nerves have mich
to do with the storage and use of force
and that they are the regulators of the
supply and distribution.
Nervous force may be compared to the
funds of a bank. No bank can nav ont
more money than it receives without
breaking" and no bank can endure
run upon it without a sufficient re-
| serve fund to meet all possible demands
IN times of panic. Yet this is what the
| person who suffers from nervous .ex
haustlon has been and is trying to do
| What actually takes place in the BODY
! we do not know; bat one thing is snre
| there is an ultimate disturbance of cir
| culation which interferes with the nat11
raj actions and functions of yarions or
gans.
The brain, for example, becomes
bloodless, and the quality of the blood
CIRCULATING within it is 50 deteriorated
that it does not nourish the brain proner
ly. Hence the nervously exhausted ner-
son feels drowsy; there is loss of mem
| DRY; there is disinclination to set about
any mental or physical duty CT task;
the Wlll-power grows feeble and the SD r
us become depressed. The appetite be-
! comes tickle; now the stomach is gorged
with oFer-rich food and again it is de-
prlved Of all food; morbid cravings arise
Tor strange and unnatural foods ana the
| stonach rebels with fits of Indigestion
! Wnlch soon become permanent What
| little food is digested is not assimilated
| SO tnat the body is starved and becomes
emaclated, or at least gains no flesh
Inc liver, in turn, takes up the strike
ana becomes torpid and rebel.ious. TIE
Kidneys join in the riot and other organs
refuse to do their work or at least per
form 1t In desultory way. The slightest
exertion tires the muscles beyond all nro-
portion with the forces required and tbe
whole mind and body is weary The per
son does not know what the matter is
with himself; nor is the doctor any wiser
Tor there is no real disease of any organ
out general disturbance of coordination
or working together Of all
The chief characteristics of nervous ex.
haustion is fatigue or rather absolute
WEAKNESS, not the fatigue from a. hard
days work which disappears with good
nights rest, but the all-gon feeling that
comes from constant excessive mental
exertion or worry, that brings with If
1sleeplessness, and which is not relieved
by sleep from which the victim awakens
feeling more tired than before. Strange
TO say the person thus tired in the morn
ing grows less so during the day and at
night he apparently becomes more active
although his acquired strength is tic,
tltlous and does not actually exist as
strength, but more as the Pickering flash
es of a waning fire Broadly stated il
may be said that nervous exhaustion
never comes from ovCrwork but from
underrest, but overworry is a most i'm
! portant factor. The farmer and woods
| man who spend much of their life ont ~
| doors, who work while it is dav and rest
when the night cometh, seldom suffer
from nerves. thew are not irriNa III.
they are not startled by the rustic of
| lear; mental emotions do not affect them
put the man of business, with every
nerve ana slnew strained in the busy
marts or the city, is momentarilv
wrecked by a shadow of disaster and the
slightest unusual occurrence sets his
heart in flutter, causes him to tremblo
| IKE an aspen and makes his face flush
! or pale with the hue of shame or fear
! Add to the overstrain Of body and nina
| the sedentary habits of the man of husi-
ness and the woman of leisure; lack Of
| exercise, even the simple one Of walking.
hours OF rest turned into hours of toll
or WhrllnE' pleasure and exhausting ex-
cess, and 1t is no wonder that the whole
body revolts and like the weary camel
lies down in the desert
Inc treatment is not so much one OF
drugs as proper regime and the first ele.
ment is to secure rest. In mild cases II
is not necessary to give up work; indeed
that would be injurious; but it is neces-
i sary to so arrange the hours and time
OF work that there may be frequent in
tervals of rest, or at least change. and
exercise, no matter how light that may