Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-08-31
THE HOLIDAY HABIT"
Physician Points Out the Great Danger
 of Vacation Overexertion

| VI NdSdbioA OVSItACTtlUD
 No one believes moTe sincerely than do in the value of exercise, and this be lief is shared by all holiday think. The holiday is undoubtedly ai opportunity for exercise, and should b, treated as such; but, after all, wha would be only a morning iaunt for { tiger or an antelope would be death fol any man, and that which would moi suffice to keep professional athlete ir form will dilate, perhaps perUanently the heart of a city clerk.
 The due exercise for one man may be a fifty mile walk, while for another il may be no more than the effort of pre- serving his balance while sitting in q carriage for an hour in the afternoon. This is emphatieally one of the good things of which one may have too much and it is the experience of every doctor that after the holiday season he is con suited by broken-winded patients, per haps even by patients whose ankles be come puffy at night; he finds dilated heart, and learns that his patient, who had hoped to set himself up for the en- suing year by his holiday, has instead condemned himself to months of incapa- city at the very least.
 have previously suggested the in troduetion of the term of "holiday heart" for this condition, since l think the phrase would be instructive to the public.
 We forget nature s great law of adap- tation and economy. If during eleven months of year the demand upon a man s musclos-of which the heart is the most important--be very small, they will be adapted thereto. The vital en- ergy will not be consumed in the upkeep of muscular tissue for which there is no use. If, then, it is desired to perform feats of swimming or climbing or walk. ing, the only sound principle is that of Milo, who, as they say, carrying | calf every day, was at last able to dance with it full grown upon his shoul ders.
 
 ble attribute of a holiday is not the change for the mind. the relief from worry, the breathing time in the strug- gle for existence.
 The best holiday, I think. is that for most of us-in which all work is forgotten, and which includes the great est number of hours of deep and dream. ing sleep and of fresh air in every hour of the twenty four. But I have been specially asked to discuss the subject of overexcrtion, and I must keep to that.
 Students of the matter divide exer. else into two eatcgories, according as whether if makes one out of breath or does not. Now, this is very real and important distinction, and I would base my advice upon it. l cannot say how much exertion is proper for the man of forty or for the youth of twenty, be- cause individuals vary; but l can def nitely say violent exercise, or that which makes one out of breath, defn- itely invites certain risk for every one, even trained athlete.
 This is not to say it is a bad thing. for many good things involve risk. But if you are going to anything which makes you out of breath. you should recognize the risk. It means that your heart is being called upon to do more work than it finds convenient, and that the blood is accommodating in the lungs because the right ventriele of the heart is not driving the blood through them at an adequate speed.
 The risk is that the ventricle may become overstretched and that you re turn home with "holiday heart" This is not heart disease, nor anything like it, but it may mean the difference be- tween life and death at some crisis, and months of distress, at any rate.
 My advice, then, to the elderly man is to stop short of violent exercise in this technical sense. He can enjoy him. self and reeuperate himself to the full without it. But this. think, would be unnecessary counsel to the young man. 'iiH taooANo hlt tlhHhit anu and though examination of boys after rnnning races readily shows temporary dilation of the heart, that soon dis appears.
 But for all ages, assuming general soundness, the exercise which does not make one out of breath is safe. and it is scarcely possible to have too much of it. There is no objection to the pleas ant fatigue which is compatible with appetite and with continuous and dream less sleep. At all times this last is the very best test, and if merely to sit in the sun and do nothing produced this result, then that would be the best form of holiday.-Dr. Saleeby in New York American.