Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1902-03-21
MODERN HEALTH ABUSES.
CHIEF AMONG THESE AN EXPERT
PLACES GLuTTONY.
A Second important Cause OF Ill
Health Is the Dwelling on Faneied
Observation-Disclosures In the Matter of
Exercise-Popular FaIlaeies.


Health Is the Dwelling on Faneed
Ailments-Mlstakes in the Matter of
Exercise-PopuIar Fallaeies.
Henry F. LOOMS, NJ. D., specialist
in lung diseases and professor in
University Medical College. writes as
follows in the New York News:
Chief among the modern abuses of
health l would place gluttony, ospeci-
ally among people of middle life and
older Virgil says somewhere that the
two vices of old age are avarice and
4 gluttony." l would add; And the
greater of these is gluttony."
! By gluttony l mean the quantity of
/ food consumed. rather than the quail
| ity. Many people have an idea that
If they eat only what they term di-
gestible food they may consume any
quantity Of that This is a great mis-
take To give the digestive organs
more work thsn they can do by over
loading the stomach with even the
most easily assisnilated food ir produc-
tive of worse results than eating a
moderate quantity of indigestible food.
OF course, when quantity and quality
are both against the stomach. so much
the worse for that much abused organ.
This vice is especially prevalent
among those who work with their
heads rather than with their hands.
The man who performs great deal
Of hard manual labor is capable of di-
costing and assimilating much greater
quantities of food than the man who
performs the same amount of brain
work-in the former case the food be-
ing oxidized or burned as fuel to be
transformed into muscular energy.
On the whole, it would be quite safe
to say that more harm results from
indiscriminate and excessive eating
than from excess n drinsipg.
A second importan. cause of ill
health among modern people is hypo-
ohondria, or the dwelling on fancied
ailments. The influence of mind over
matter cannot be overestimated. and
if a person takes it into his head by
the suggestion OF scme one else. that
he is suffering from such and such
a disease, he Is pretty 9It to be actu-
ally a victim of that disease in the
end, though at first he may not in re
atty have had q 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 | 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 | was vic
tim of the then prevailing grippe
that it was some time before l 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
raran+Iv zzrnild should never be neg
s seGSieed pedPPfAet 1ihoa viii make great
fuss over some little pain or ache
which in reality amounts to nothing
yet will neglect a cold, which they
consider a trifing matter, until il
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
the decline in New York. That pneu-
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 ten
perature fannels should be worn at
LAST ten months out OF IKE twelve,
and preferably a lightweight should
be worn even 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
from mental and nervous stand
point of yiew-the less able he was
to stand without discomfort active
physical exercise. Extreme mental
application 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 es-
pecially necessary is it to have all
apartments, whether used for sleeping,
working or any other purpose. thor
oughly ventilated.
Another popular fancy is the "early
to bed and early to rise" theory. The
old rule of eight hours sleep is excel.
lent for the average person, but as
the system is weaker between the
hours of and 6 in the morning than
at any other time. our forefathers,
who boosted of their 'candle-light
breakfasts would have shown more
common sense If they had risen a lit
tie later and breakfasted at a more
| reasonable hour.
Origin of Joke.
DR.. Finders FIetrie. the eminent