New Britain herald., 1925-11-21
Your Health How to Keep It.
 Causes of Illness
By DIR. HUGH S. CUMMING Surgeon General, Y, S, Public
 Health Service

Health service
 Strictly speaking, yaricose vein means "a dilated vein"---a condition of veins which occurs most frequent ly In those veins which are farthest from the heart and which occupy d dependent position,
 Varicose veins are found most often in the legs and thighs and lower parts Of the body. Any con dition which flinders the free return of the blood from the veins to the heart Is apt 10 cause a permanent dilation of the vein. The trouble at the outset is usually a mechanical one. Often some unusual pressure on the veins of the abdomen dams up the blood.
 When varicose veins occur in tho left leg constipation Is a frequent cause of the condition. Partial ob- struction of the bowels leads to the dilation of the veins with . thinning and weakening of the wall of the blood vessels.
 These blood vessels, which carry the blood from the feet 10 the heart, you understand, are carrying such q column of blood that 1t forms a constant load. If anything occurs 10 increase the weight of this load, such as the exertion of undue pres sure on any part of the veins, the condition so created will tend to grow worse instead Of better and yaricose veins will result.
 Usually the veins which are af- fected are those which run just be- low the skin and outside of the muscles. You can easily understand why this is 50 when you consider that these vessels have very little support from surrounding tissue. The deeper veins of the leg have much greater support. for the con tracting muscles constantly tend to force the blood through the veins. These outer veins drain the skin. When pressure is cxerted and the blocking takes place the blood backs up into the small capillaries of the skin. Since the tissue is nourished by the blood stream, it follows that the cells do not get their usual sup 1 ply of food. As. a result of this, the skin itself becomes thick and soft, very much like wet plotting paper,
 The limb gets much larger than it should be and 1t not infrequently happens that some day bruise that would not under ordinary circum- in case of this kind break down the weakened skin cells and results in a Varicose ulcer. Any condition which flinders the return of the blood from the veins Is apt to cause varicose veins,
 Thus you can see that the veins Of the leg, which 10 frequently de- velop into this condition, are those which may have been retarded by the wearing of tight garters. Some times the trouble is due to direct injury, which, by setting up an in- fammation, has weakened the coats of tho veins to such an extent that they yield to the pressure of the blood stream.
 Careful examination of varicose veins has shown that such veins increase in length as we'll as In ca pacity. In some parts Of a varicose vein the walls become thick, in oth- CT parts-where dilation Is greatest the walls are very thin. Veins af- fected in this way are usually pain ful and are, moreover, liable to at- tacks of inflammation.
 Inflammation of this king may end in the formation of blood clots. This is dangerous condition, as a sud den. violent movement is apt to cause the detachment Of a piece of clot. This in turn may be carried to the brain or to the lungs and may cause sudden death.
 1 Occasionally these dilated veins rupture and more or less severe bleeding occurs. This. as a rule. is not dangerous to life and a slight pressure will stop the bleeding, but one rupture of this kind usually causes much anxiety and fear of re- currence. A recurrence does not necessarily happen.
 The direct treatment of varicose veins is mechanical and like all oth- CT things medical there Is basicaly nothing mysterious about 1t. The exercise of that quality. misnamed Common" sense, when trouble starts will correct the condition.
 Now, the common sense idea, that to avoid varicose veins you should relieve the pressure on the enlarged veins, should occur to almost any one. Allow the circulation to be. come normal again and the skin and other tissues of the leg will shrink back to normal size. In mild cases a rest In bed with the affected part raised on pillows sometimes accom- plishes desired results.
 If constipation is the cause, how ever, efforts should be made to over come thls condition. The wearing of an elastic stocking or q suitable elastic bandage purchased on the ad. vice of physician usually brings relief. Tn some cases a surgical operation Is advisable. . 
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