Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-07
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

By Thomas R. Henry.
A strange increase Of more than $50
per cent in the rate Of insanity due to
old age in the past Is years has been
reported to the Old Age Advisory Com
mittee of the National Institute of
Health by Dr. Winfred Overholzer, its
psychiatrist member.
DR.. Overholzer is superintendent of st.
Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, the
Federal institution for treatment of
mental diseases.
This is the one type of insanity which
is certainly on the increase. In 1912, DR..
Overholzer says, there were TT admis-
sions to mental hospitals per 100000 of
the population for mind maladies direct
ly due to growing old. In 1896, the last
year for which accurate statistics are
available, there were 40 per 100000, and
it is believed the rate still is on the
increase. The growth of the population
per Sc. DR.. OverholZer said, apparently
has nothing to do with the phenomenon,
nor has the fact that more persons are
living to ages when they are subject to
the various senile dementias Increases
in cancer and heart disease, which can
not easily be classified according to age
groups, often are explained away as due
to the fact that more persons are reach
ing the age levels when they are likely
to be victims of them.
The senile dementias, DR.. Overholzer
said, are falling roughly into two groups
The first follows shock" the breaking
of a blood vessel in some part of the
brain. 1t can be described, he said, as
mental dilapidation." The victims are
extremely emotional. Their memories are
faulty and they can be upset easily
They lose the power to think, are sus-
picious and get ideas that they are being
prosecuted. Sometimes there are con-
WILSON'S
The increase in post-shock dementia,
DR.. Overholzer said seems to parallel
quite closely the increase in deaths from
cerebral hemorrhage, which in the past
few years has become one of the leading
causes Of death in the United States
There is no clue to explain this increase.
AS one grows older the blood vessels be-
come coated on the inside with calcium
and the pressure of the blood flow
through the narrowed channels tends to
cause a break at the weakest point.
More and more this weakest point is To-
Gated somewhere in the brain.
This Qualification. or hardening of the
arteries, is universal to some extent
With some, however, the process sets in
early and shock" may occur in the
prime of life. There is one abnormal
condition in which young persons suffer
from it. 1t may take place in various
parts Of the body in unequal degrees
There are persons, DR.. Overholzer
pointed out, with extremely brittle blood
channels in the arms and legs, while
their brain blood supply seems COM
pletely unaffected.
In some way the brain brittleness of
the American people, responsible for
many untimely sudden deaths, as well as
for the increase in insanity, may be as
soclated with the characteristic diet of
the American people, or with the increas-
ing nervous stress of life. That Is one
thlng the committee wants to find out
The second form of senile dementia
DR.. Overholzer said, can be characterized
as simple senility. 1t is a wasting aWay
OF the brain. There is no break in a
blood vessel which can be found at
autopsy and there may be no hardening
OF the arteries. 1t is an exaggeration
DR.. Overholzer said, of the condition
usually known as "dotage" There is a
progressive loss of judgment and memory
and narrowing of interests. AS in the
post-shock cases, there is likely to be a
development of persecution completes
and victims are extremely fussy and ex-
citable
There seems to be, he pointed out, a
progressive narrowing of interests and
withdrawal from the actual world. The
victim OF this form of dementia NAV not
remember what day it is, yet recall with
perfect clarity something that happened
81 years ago. Events of the day are
making no impression on the mind and
1t is swept clean for the vivid experiences
OF happier days. Such persons are likely
to wander away from home. Only in ex-
IRENE cases need they be confined. 1t is
not at all certain, Dr. Overholzer said,
that there has been any increase in this
form of insanity and the whole actual
Jump may be due to the post-shock
cases.
Part of the increase, DR.. Overholzer
said, may be illusory, due to the fact that
there are better methods of diagnosis
than those used quarter of a century
ago. Also families are less well equipped
to care for the old folks in the homes
But this, he believes, can explain only
a small part of $50 per cent jump.
Believes Dies Committee
ChnuIl Rn