The Opelousas courier., 1902-04-26
MODERN HEALTH ABUSES,
cHiEF AMONG THESE AIN ExpEer
PLACES GLUTToNy.

SF6taT FdIlaCteS.
nenry F. Loomis, M. D., specialist
IL lung diseases and professor in
University Medical College vr;+as =.
io1oWs In the New York News:
oniel among the modern abuses q,
aal'n l would place gluttony, especi
any among people of middle jifa and
older. Virgil says somewhere that The
" vices Of old age are avarice and
gIuttony:" I would add: "And the
greater Of these is gluttony." >
oy sluttony l mean the quantity of
.ood consumed, rather than tho oual.
.ty. Many people have an idea that
Il .ney a only what they term di.
gestiole food they may any
qpantlty OF that This is a great mis-.
taAe' 10 give the digestive organs
more work thsn they can do by over.
ioaolns n stomach with even the
most easily asstnilated food is nroduc
i've OF worse results than eating a
moderate quantity of indigestible food,
vi course, when quantity and quality
are 10Th against the stomach, So fnucR
tne worse for that much abused organ
Ihis vice is especially prevalent
among those who work with their
neaas rather than with their hands.
me mar who performs a great deal
OF nard manual labor is capable Of dt-
sestlng n assimilating much greater
quantities Of food than the mar who
performs the same amount of brain
"ork-ln the former case the food be-
ing ox1dized, or burned as fuel to be
transformed into muscular energy.
On the whole, it would be quite safe
10 say that moro harm results from
lndlscriminate and excessive eating
than from excess N drinkirg.
a second importan. cause of ILL.,
health among modern people is hypo-
chondria, or the dwelling on fancied
ailments. The influence of mind over
matter cannot be overestimated. and
II a person takes it into his head by
the suggestion Of some enc else, that
he is suffering from such and such
q disease, he IS pretty eft to be actu-
ally a victim of that disease in the
end, though at first he may not in re-
atty have had a single symptom of
the disease from which he imagined
himself to be suffering. This is a
cruel practical joke which medical
students occasionally play upon each
other, with, in some instances, disas-
trous results.
Not long since l myself was suffer
ing with what l now know to have
been a mild attack of tonsilitis, but
at the time it was SO forcibly impress
ed upon me by others that I was a vic
tim of the then prevailing grippe"
that it was some time before I could
convince myself that the attack was
not really one of grippe" and in a
serious form.
There is one ailment, however, the
first symptoms of which, however ap-
parently mild, should never be neg
lected, That is a cold. There are
some people who will make a great
fuss over some little pain or ache
which in reality amounts to nothing,
yet will neglect a cold, which they
consider a triiing matter, until 1t
runs into" something requiring seri-
Gus attention. Neglect anything else
rather than a cold, which should be
taken in hand at once.
Statistics prove that within the last
ten years all diseases, with the single
exception Of pneumonia, have been on
%ba daoI;ra ;n Nou vorlr ThaB runy,.
monia alone has been on the increase
can be attributed only to the fact that
colds are SO often neglected until 1t is
"too late" In this climate, with its
sudden and extreme changes of tenn
perature iannels should be worn at
least ten months out of the twelve,
and preferably a lightweight should
be worn eve during the Summer.
In the matter of exercise a great
mistake is often made. Brain work
ers-those who do the hardest and
most nerve-trying mental work-are
not, contrary to popular opinion, those
who require the greatest amount OF
exercise. Joseph Choate is a nota-
BILE example of this. He has told me
that the more arduous his days work
a mental and v stand
point of view-the less able he was
to stand without discomfort active
physical exercise. Extreme mental
uses up such a large
amount of what might be called vital
energy" that a short nap, or the rec
reation of an amusing or diverting
book, is often much more beneficial
than active physical exercise would
be.
This does not mean, however, that
fresh out-of-door air during some part
of the day, is not a necessity; and IS
pecially necessary is it to have all
apartments, whether used for sleeping,
working or any other purpose. thor
ventilated.
Another popular fancy is the early
10 bed and early to rise" theory. The
Did rule of eight hours sleep is excel
lent for the average person, but as
the system is weaker between the
hours of 8 and 6 in the morning than
1t n other time, u ~forefathers,
who boasted of their "candle-light
breakfasts" would have shown more
sense if they had risen q lit
lie later and breakfasted at a more
reasonable hour.
L