Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1924-08-06
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Doctor Tells How to Insure Efficient
Middle Age.

emeritus of medicine in Johns Hop
kins university, and former ply
sician-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins
HOSPITAL in Baltimore, expresses the
oDinion that the best way to insure
an efficient middle age is to have
chosen" the right kind of grand
parents so as to have a good con-
stitution. But this does not mean
chat the middle-aged man himself is
impotent in the matter of his own
welfare.
THE middle-aged man who feels
he is slipping can do more for hlm-
self than any one else can do for
him." said Dr. Barker land he can
do it best by attention to physical
and mental hygiene, by proper be
hayior in matters that are within
| his own control For the most part
it is best to put all thoughts OF re
iuvenation' completely out of nina.
IT is my opinion that gland therapy
| has been much over-eXploited. IN
some cases the Stomach operation
aprears to have been slightly bene-
| 6cial but magical transformations
such as the public has come to be
| lleNG lii 60 HOT OCCNl' i''N1'iN-
whether we shall ever find way TO
| restore youth or to prolong human
life indefinitely
"PersonalIy | hope we shall not.
why should a man wish for any
thing more than to have normal,
healthy life? We should be glad to
live healthily each part of our life
for its own sake-a normal child
hood, a normal youth, normal MD
die age, and a normal senescence.
Living forever upon this earth would
be a terrible thing; the very thought
of it eXcites horror. Moreover, such
an everlasting earthly life would
destroy our chief hopes for improy-
ing the human race.
by the time he is forty, the man
with ordinary powers Of observation
ought to have learned to a great ex-
tent what is good for him and what
is not. He should be able to answer
such questions as to whether coffee
and tobacco are injurious to his
activities or interfere with his sleep.
Restful sleep does as much as any
thng to aid a man in conserving his
powers, and if he is losing his grip
lack of sleep is often one of the
reasons.
"When a middle-aged man feels he
is becoming less efficient in his bust
ness he is likely to be overcome by
panicky determination to submerge
himself in work, to attempt to ac-
complish in more hours what he was
once able to do in less time. This
ie n fatal mistake Rather his
primary need is more rest and re-
taxation.
1T is an easy thing TO tell man
not to worry but he is likely to re
ply with the question: How can |
stop it?' Recreation offers means
| Every man should have at least one
or two hobbies to divert his mind and
| to relax the tension of business cares.
Chaucey M. Depew, l am told en-
gagged in public speaking primarily
as a hobby. In order to prepare his
| dinner speeches it was necessary for
| him completely to forget his duties
as a railroad executive as soon as he
left his Office, He is now ninety years
old He still is serving the New York
| Central railroad. Gardening, fishing,
an interest in art, music or books,
or engaging in some social-welfare
activity may provide fit hobby for
the man who would find public
speaking only another source of
worry. Every man must pick his
own hobby through inclination and
| by a process of experimentation.
play is the best kind of exercise,
but the middle aged man must use
care in the selection OF the games in
which he INDUCES. Tennis is good
exercise for the man of forty who is
content not to play it too strenu-
ously, but for man past forty golf is
perhaps better fitted to his needs.
Riding and walking are also excel
| lent forms of exercises.
| "Calisthenic exercises will do
much toward keeping a man in con-
! dition, but calisthenics should not
| be overdone. Men who are past sixty
will often find that the exercises best
fitted to their needs are simple ones
that can be performed in bed while
under the covers and out of danger
| from exposure to cold.
But real play is the thing of
which the middleaged man is most
in need, He should give a weekend
or an afternoon each week to recrea-
ton. He will find it will pay him to
take a day off now and then and to
make semi-annual vacations regu-
lar practice-at least two weeks in
the summer and shorter vacation
in mid-winter, The chief object of
these vacations should be to get into
the open air and as far away as pos
sible from the sights and sounds Of
the city and the thoughts of bust
ness"
DR.. Barker holds that diet is a
cardinal factor in the hygiene of mid
die life and the quality of food is
thing of far more Importance than
quantity, though both should be con-
sidered. Overeating, he says, puts
an undue strain on the blood-vessels