Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-05-06
HEALTH WEEK
H. A. Berkes M. d. Assistant Medical Director Pacific
Mutual Life Insu rance Company

Just think of the actual work it does
1t forces anywhere from one to seven
quarts of blood into the circulation
every minute, which, if totaled for the
day, would weigh approximately sew
en- tons. Can We afford to allow such
an active, powerful pump to become
impaired?
Every time single leafIet of the
heart valve becomes inflamed, it pc
comes crippled and never can runc
tion normally. 1T either causes a leak
or impedes the natural flow of blood
through the valve. In order to over
come this the heart must either en-
large its chambers or increase the de-
velopment of it's muscles. Once dam
aged, it does not necessarily termi
nate life, but it does put certain re-
strictions on the activity of life, and
it demands the strict adherence to
these restrictions, or the possessor
must pay the penalty
The doctors of today are better able
to detect heart trouble than they were
many years ago. They believe and
have reason to believe rnat they can.
care for heart diseases better than they
did many years ago. They admit,
however, that once a valve is crippled
it is never restored to normal, and
that the only thing that they can do
for patient with this trouble is to
direct him to so live and so guard
himself that unusual strain or ex-
cessive strain Will not be placed upon
this organ;
If, then, it be true that the doctors
assure us that they are unable to
cure a. diseased heart or a crippled
valve of the heart, what is. the pres
ent problem regarding heart disease?
1T can be none other than that preven-
tative medicine is the great field in
this work. 1t means that we must
educate and teach the people how they
acquire heart disease, how, when they
first acquire it, they should take care
of themselves so it does not pro-
gress to a stage where extensive dam
age will be done.
In reviewing literature regarding
heart disease we find that rheuma-
tism ST. Vitus dance, tonsilitis, pneu-
monia, simple colds and influenza are
the ones commonly found preceding
heart disease. In other words, are the
diseases which, due to some germ,
permit this germ to enter the blood
stream and be carried to the heart
where they locate on one of the small,
delicate parts of the heart valves and
establishing themselves there, cauS-
ing an inflammatory condition, which
later on develops this deformity. All
cases of. any Of these diseases dc NOT
develop heart trouble, and it is not
necessary f6r many Of them to de-
velop it, but as long as any of them
develop this complication, it is the
serious question, and we should de-
vote our attention more preventative
medicine we should warn people that
even such a simple thing as tonsil-f
tits may be the direct cause Of this
heart trouble When the public be-
comes interested in heart trouble, IL
will, sooner or later, form nationaf
societies for the prevention of this
disease. 1t will also teach the people
not. to wait until they are short OF
breath, until they are cyanotic or their
feet are swollen before they find out
how much heart trouble they really
have.
In other words, it will teach tne1n
that only competent medical man
will be able to examine them and tell
them truthfully whether they have
any of the signs of heart trouble be-
fore they have any symptoms.