The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-07-25
HOW YOUR HEART RESTS MORE
THAN 1T WORKS.

HOW YOUR HEART RESTS MORE
THAN 1T WORKS.
Your heart rests thirteen hours
out of the twenty-four in the normal
adult. It's work is done during the
systole or forcing out, and the dia-
stole or the relaxation last just one
twelfth longer than the working per-
iod, so that when the twenty-four
hours have elapsed the heart has
had thirteen hours rest and only
eleven hours work. 1t is, therefore,
a great mistake to speak of the ''un-
resting heart" If it did not rest it
could not stand the strain, in fact,
if it is forced to beat too rapidly,
either by drugs or any disorganiza-
,tion of the system, it soon breaks
down, for strong as the muscles are
they cannot work continuously, but
must have rest to regain power.
While it is true that the heart is
the great motive-power which keeps
the blood flowing through the arter-
les and veins, it is mistake to re-
gard it as a force-pump, which
drives the blood all the way it is to
go. But it must have rest between
it's muscular contraction or it wears
out very quickly.
If the work of the heart were to
be compared with the work of man
the necessity for sleep would soon
be clear Almost any healthy man
could walk a thousand miles in six
weeks, walking a little over eight
hours a day, at an easy pace, and
resting for the remainder Of each
day. Almost any one thinks that he
could walk a thousand miles in a
thousand hours, but it is no mean
feat, as was shown by an English
soldier, Captain Barclay. Some few
men have tried to outdo the captain
by walking a thousand miles in a
thousand half-hours, but few could
perform this great task. The way
Captain Barclay and other athletic
pedestrians accomplished this task
was to walk two miles at a time.
the first mile at the end of one hour
or half-hour, and the second at the
beginning of the next hour or half
hour, so as to get as much unbroken
sleep as possible. If he walks al
the rate of a mile in fifteen minutes
he gets an hour and half sleep be-
tween every walk when walking a
thousand miles in a thousand hours
but he only gets one-third as much
sleep, namely, half-an-hour between
his walks when going a thousand
miles in thousand half-hours. 1t is
plain that no living man could walk
| thousand miles in thousand
quarter hours, because he would gel
no rest at all, and if he increased his
pace so as to snatch a little rest
the strain would be so great that he
could never finish.
This is precisely what happens
when the heart is forced to do toe
much work, either by over-eXertior
or by the strain of disease. If it is
compelled to beat more quickly than
normally it is quickly exhausted,
| for nearly the whole time needed
| for the diostole or rest is taken uI
in labor, even though the systole be
! slightly shortened. For this reason
when the pulse is very rapid the
physician bends every effort to de.
creasing the rate of the hearts beat.
ing by cold applications or by drugs
which slow it's action.
The natural question which arises
is: What happens to the system
while the heart is taking it's neces-
sary rest. When the beat is over
the valves to the aorta close tightly
and the heart is cut off from the
circulatory system. What force is
it then which is carrying on the cir,
culation in these resting intervals
The answer is a very simple one
In adults whose arteries are normal
the arteries are very elastic, and
when the heart-force-pump drives
the blood out they are stretched
greatly. The moment the force stops
! the elasticity of the arteries makes
| these vessels try to come back tC
their normal size, and in this way
the blood with which they are gorg-
ed is forced forward by the energy
stored in the elastic walls. They
! might be compared to the watch
! spring which is wound up every
night and thus stores the energy fol
running the wheels all day. The
walls of the arteries store the energy
| from the heart between each beat
and send the blood along its course
This elasticity of the arteries also
serves to regulate the flow of the
blood, so that it does not shoot
! through them at each beat of the
heart, but is slowed down and dis,
| tributed gradually and in proper
proportion to all parts of the body
Thus it is plain that while the heart
rests the arteries do its pumping
work, even more effectively than il
could do itself.-New York Journal