Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1915-04-02
(Copyright, 1914. by A. S. Gray)
CONSTIPATION.

CONSTIPATION.
Constipation or chronic .ntestina
stasis, as 1t is now officially desig
mated, with its attendant poisoned
state Of the blood from time imme
mortal has been held responsible fol
most of ills humanity is heir to.
In the past constipated patients
were piled with pill and powder. oils
salts, waters and other laxative com
pounds. both natural and manufac
tured. One after the other invari
ably they all failed in the end and
the doctor had to be again consulted
Generally he only varied the dose OF
this or that or prescribed another
drug. without any attempt at a
thorough investigation. and generally
too, without even SO much as a cur
sorry examination. Finally the public
. caught the idea and ceased going to
the doctor for such a minor ailment
and experimental with various pills,
powders and waters, such as the in.
genuity of the manufacturer could
devise or the druggist could sug.
gest.
Aided and abetted by the artistic
photographer and the circus bill post
er, an educational campaign for in
struction on how every man may be-
come his own physician now forms
q highly suggestive background to the
general landscape throughout the
country. As the result of clever ad-
'vertising campaigns the carrying of
. box Of laxative tablets, pills or
candy In the pocket in order to facili-
tate the regular daily dose Of the
remedy has become habitual with q
large percentage Of our people.
Constipation unfortunately IL not
an Insignificant local affair that may
easily be overcome by some simple
remedy but. on the contrary, 1t Is gen.
orally symptom of a slowly develop
Ing constitutional condition, the spe-
cific name of which will appear in
the death certificate Of the victim.
It IL only Of late years that we really
have begun to understand the relations
existing between constipation and the
rest Of the body; to comprehend that
functional inactivity In the gastric
tract IL perhaps but a part of q gen.
eral functional arrangement certain
to end disastrously II not corrected
by q comprehensive readjustment Of
individual habits and relations.
BY far the most important factor in
the maintenance Of health il food. To
the average individual food means
something edible and palatable, which
will satisfy the demands of hunger
and thirst and enable him to maintain
normal strength Of body and mind.
Up to very recent time textbooks on
physiology taught that the three chief
foods Of men were proteids. fats and
carbohydrates. Tucked away in an
obscure corner. II indeed they were
ct al mentioned, under the name of
ash the mineral salts received a bare
mention. the author usually explaining
that little or nothing was known of
their action In physiology.
Recently we have come to under.
stand that not only are there many
proteids and that some proteids do
not alone sufice to sustain human
life, but we have come to understand
also that proteids. fats and carbohy.
drates are not the three chief foods
Of man.
Going back through millions of
years to the single cell. to the ameba
state Of existence, we find that the
primary food elements were, and still
are. air, water and mineral salts. Com.
ing up the long ladder of progressive
animal evolution. we finally come to
. period where proteids. fats and car.
bohydrates, in fixed definiteness and
proportion, became necessary to us
~ vertebrates: and. while these three
classes of foods are absolutely vital
to our existence AZ higher animals.
We are beginning to comprehend that
they are still subsidiary to the first
three-exactly as our more recently
acquired brain, suparimposed on to
our primitive sympathetic system. has
recently been demonstrated to be sub
sidiary to the ductless gland system
comprising our primordial nervous
system.
The individual workers of the body,
the cells composing our bodies. are
nourished by the blood stream. and
the most valuable components of that
wonderful fluid are known to be the
mineral salts. and these are absolutely
necessary to maintain the normal com.
position and activity Of the individual
cell; hence the same must be true
OF the complete organism, because the
organism Is constructed out of the
blood stream.