Evening star., 1935-05-23

/ the process of premature aging, de-
scribed as IN increasing 'ongiOmera-
| ton Of the colloids of the body, with
! an increasing stability accompanied
by decline in the metabolic rate so
that the synthesis of new substances
does not keep pace with the break
down. The result Of such a process
is eventual atrophy Of the bodily
organs and death. The body Is vast
| ing more than it is creating.
The victim is vaguely aware Of this
| aging process, said Dr. Rothschild,
and subconsciously makes a desperate
attempt to halt 1t by returning to
the behavior pattern of youth. As
the physical degenerative continues
at an accelerated rate the patient
clutches further and further into the
past-at boyhood, then babyhood, then
infancy.
This is probably what happens in
the actual second childhood" of the
very old. DR.. Rothschild said, but the
unconscious and dispairing clutching
OF the past is not so forceful. The
old man or woman may 60 quietly to
the end of life with little or none of
the childish babbling characteristic
OF the senile dementia state and
hardly distinguishable from the first
talking of the infant.
But the middle-aged victim of Alz-
neimers disease, in whom the aging
process mas not proceeded at a nat
ural rate, is driven to more forceful
and thoroughgoing defense reaction.
He is clinging to babyhood as a de-
tense against death
Are you an oxygen type or a sulphur
type?
Are you q thoracic type or q cere-
bral type?
Human types, chemical or physical,
and equally without any basis in fact,
are the stock in trade of most of the
quack doctors, psychologists, swamis,
soul healers and other swindlers now
reaping q harvest from the gullible
all over the United States, according
TO reports presented to the Psychiatric
Association. All are so much alike,
these reports show, that they must
have CLEANED their misinformation
from a common source.
One prevalent school of quackery
Is that which rests upon the assump-
ton Of chemical types" showing diff
ferent physical and behavior char
acteristics, depending on the predomi-
nance of some chemical element in the
body. There Is the calcium type
including most soldiers, pioneers, etc.
II he marries a calcium-type woman
/ fhnir ahi1Hrex, he DC
the moody, inconsistent, predomi-
nantly feminine sulphur type" the
oxygen type" of the perfect lover,
the reserved and dignif1ed nitrogen
type" and about dozen others. Each
one, say the quacks, stands in need Of
a different kind of diet, which they are
willing to prescribe for q fee.
The girl in search Of q husband,
one report showed, should avoid the
| cerebral type, dominated by brain.
He Is likely to starve because he
can't earn enough to live on or Is too
preoccupied with thinking to eat. Also
one should avoid the thoracic type
handsome and with lovely hair and
| eyes, but high-strung, unstable and
eager for applause. He makes q good
salesman.
| Even in the depths of the depres-
sion, the reports to the Psychiatric As
sociation showed, these quacks have
CLEANED rich harvest from the gull
lible. This is due to the fact, said one
report, that the general public has
attached almost magical properties
to anything labeled science" but is
unable to differentiate the true from
the false.
/ Especially in the field of medicine
there is q constant and almost morbid
curiosity Xhich the physician cannot
satiaty wf the truth.