Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1901-07-25
HELPFUL DISEASES.

! II dDDtdTe, iTOIU IIlt ldltSt HItd
discovery, that several diseases pro-
long. instead of shorten life.
Rheumatic people, for instance,
rarely die young. How this disease
wards off death is not known. 1t is
| probable, however, that the blood &C
quires some property which is fatal to
the germs of other diseases.
Gout is malady which also
lengthens ones days. Sometimes it
goes to the heart and proves fatal. But
if it can be kept to the big toe the
patient may feel pretty confident that
he will live till his ninetieth birth
day, or perhaps his hundredth birth
day. The explanation of this fact, put
forward by medical scientist, is that
the gout frees the blood from poison
Ous matter.
1t appears that by banishing small
pox we have lost splendid life pre-
server. In census Of aged people
taken many years ago 1t WAS found that
a very large number were pockmarked. I.
This led doctor to make a calcula
tion, which proved that there were
twice as many pockmarked people over
50 years old az there would have been
unless the small pox exercised 3 pre-
servative on life. He accounted for
this curious fact by concluding that
the smallpox microbe frightened awav
all other microbes just as rats frighten
away mice from house.
1t would scarcely be supposed that
bronchitis would add to ones days.
Very often it shortens them consider
ably, but in other cases it has quite
the opposite effect. A very large num-
ber Of the old people you meet cough
all the year round with chronic
br ronchltis You would think, when
listening to them, that they must
very quickly cough themselves to
death. That is not so at all. The
coughing helps the heart to circulate
the blood, and, in fact, gives exercise
TO all the organs. But for this daily
exercise many old peoples bodily
mechanism would get fatally clogged
Besides, man with bronchitis is
very careful of himself. He will not sit
in draughts, he will avoid getting
drenched, he will not be out late at
night and lose good part of his sleep.
And thus he more than compensstes
for the injury done by his ailment.
weak heart does not often prolong
life, but there are cases on record
where il has done so. A weak heart lie
certainly more conducive to length OF
days than an exceedingly strong one,
for the latter throws too much work
on the other organs and wears them
out before their time. Ii is the same
with the stomach. Dyspepsia, provided
it is OF mild form, serves to keep
death away. Most centenarians have
been very moderate eaters.
Deafness is another ailment which |
has this curious property of adding
years to the victims life. Now and |
again a deaf man is run over in the
streets of cities. But when deaf people |
orudently pitch their tent in the coun-
.ry they live, as a rule, TO very old |
age. Probably the true explanation of |
his fact is that deafness saves us from
, lot of worry. The shril noises to
which most people are insensible, be-
'ause they have got used to them, are
'eally very injurious. Barking dogs,
rowing cocks, shouting paper sellers,
\ yhistling boys, rattling carts, etc,
'xert seriously injurious influence on
mes health. The ear nerve is a very
arge one, and every time it is over
the brain receives an in
urious shock. Deaf people escape all
hese life shorteners and hence they
i've long.