Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-08-14
DR.. JOSEPH 3. WOLFFE

DESEARCH on a large scale supported
~ by public moneys and n presentation of
facts to the people by the medical profess
sion through the press eventually will be the
chief campa ign methods in the effort to
stamp out heart disease from speeded-up
Wolfe of the staff Of the Mount Sinai Hos.
pital and a director Of the newly organized
Philadelphia Association for the Prevention
and Relief Of Heart Disease.
THE battle has just begun said DIR.
Wolfe Doctors have known for long
time of the prevalence of heart disease, and
have had accurate statistics of its alarming
increase. But such discussions as have taken
place have always been among medical men,
and hence when facts are made public, they
are perhaps more startling than actual con-
ditions would indicate.
adult cases of heart disease, it Is known,
start now far earlier in life than was usual
before people began hurrying about as they
have done for the last few years. Symptoms
of arterio- sclerosis, or hardening OF the
arteries: are now appearing frequently in a
scale of ages ranging from thirty.hve to
forty FIVE.
1--WE work nervously and hurriedly, and
we do not know how to relax, to have real
recreation. for that same hurry and scram-
BILE continue in whatever we do. II man
comes back to his work more run down and
tired than when he left. for he has probably
been on the go from the time he started.
snatching food when and where he could and
never stopping.
Always In a Hurry
"In the city the pace continues; hurried
meals, running for trolleys and trains in.
creased burdens of mental and physical work
all add to the tension under which people
live, without stopping to consider whether
or not they are COnStitutionally fitted for
continuous round Of activity.
Then, if they find that the heart is in
bad condition the shock breaks the spirit
and they feel that they are done for. This
is not So Unlike advanced cases of tubcrcu-
losis, heart troubles can be remedied by an
altered method Of living and slowing down
of all activities, with rigid adherence to
rules laid down by a physician. There is
no reason to give up
There has probably been no increase In
the number of cases Of heart disease among
children in the last few years, but never
until the last year has any attention been
| alone. Now that 1t has been found that
children, unknown to themselves or to their
| families, have often some form of heart
trouble. 1t remains only to seek more space
for treatment and to determine more fully
| the causes.
Few Beds for Heart Cases
'In the whole city We have only sixteen
|
| and other troubles that require place of
| rest, where competent care can be given md
| frequent observations of the case made
| Those beds are in the little cottage in Devon
We could use 800 beds now in this cause
| alone.
1T is not problem to be financed by
| private money or to be dealt with entirely
| in private institutions, as at present 1t ia
| a municipal problem OF the greatest i'm
| portance, and too much cannot be said for
men like DIR. Furbush and Dr. Cornell who
| are doing their best to provide for the ex- :
| animation of every child when it comes into
the schools of the city and, further, to ar.
| range courses and activities that will eradi-
| cate heart weaknesses as the child grows
| older. We need more men with that bi9h
| sense of civic duty.
| "Some of the causes Of heart diseose In
| children are already known, such as had
| teeth and infected tonslls Acute rheumatism
also is invariably productive Of bad effects
on the heart. We need a greatly extended
system of research, made possible by the
city itself, for private means are insufficient
and there is much to be learned yet In clinic
and laboratory.
| Heart Trouble and Indigence
"When you think that the cause of greot
deal Of civic dependence Is heart trouble
! that might have been stopped many years