The Ypsilanti daily press., 1944-12-14

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DR.. Clendening will answer
questions of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
cine, who devoted one part Of his
writings to "Of Seasons and
Places" But only of late is it be-
ginning to be studied with careful
scientific methods.
Climate and weather have some
what different connotations. A
tropical climate brings continuous
health hazards. But weather,
which means, Of course, variations
in barometric pressure, humidity,
heat and cold affects the body by
mere physical changes.
Everyone knows, or has heard,
Of the fellow with rheumatism or
a bullet in his leg who can predict
the approaching storm. There
have been scofers at such abilities,
but there is no reason 10 doubt
them, and many theoretical rea-
sons TO explain why they should
be true. Barometric pressure and
temperature changes in the atmos-
phere both affect blood pressure
and circuiatory adjustments of
mass distribution of blood. Why
should not the more rapid circula-
tion of the blood which is required
by the onset Of cold weather cause
particular spot of scar tissue to
become congested and throb1
Famous Cases
DR.. William F. Peterson, of
Chicago, has taken the trouble to
look up the weather records and
make some valuable correlations
in some famous cases. The effect
of extra exertion on attacks of
angina pectoris "a well known, but
many instances are on record
where extra eXertion, or indeed
eXertion Of any kind did not pre-
cede an attack.
The first patient in whom it was
definitely proved that clot in the
blood vessels of the heart caused
pain in the heart region was that
recorded by DR.. James B. Herrick,
of Chicago. The patient was a
man 55 years old who had his at
tack at midnight on January 10,
1910 after no more effort than is
Involved IN eating a late supper.
Now DR.. Peterson has looked up
the weather reports for that Pc
riod and finds that there was a
sharp change in the weather on
the very day Of the attack.
Another definite and famous
case on record is that Of President
Calvin Coolidge. He died sudden
ly on January 8, 1888. He had
been in good health complaining
of only little acid indigestion for
few days. The'temperature rec
ord Of the region shows the same
curve as that which obtained in
DR.. Herrick's classic case-frst
severe cold wave that sent temp
eratures down 60 degrees in one
day and then an equally sudden
rise: at the crest of the high
temperature President CoolidgeS
fatal heart attack occurred.
Heat Balance
~0f all the powers. wrote Hip
pocrates, none holds less sway in
the body than heat and cold" The
human organism holds most te-
naciously to its heat balance. But
in so doing it must rely mainly on
the circulatory system to drive
the temperature-regulating blood
evenly over the body surface and
internal organs. This certainly
puts as much of a strain on the
heart muscle as exertion, against
which we are so regularly warned
by the students of heart conditions.
The variations in feeling Of
wellbeing that people with chronic
high or low blood pressure feel
may well be related to weather
changes. 1t will take a long range
period Of study by those who are
willing to become experimental
animals and record their symp-
toms daily as well as the tempera-
ture and barometric pressure be-
fore we can even begin to plan re-
search which may lead US to the
reasons-physiological and chem
ical-for these changes.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
R. Sis it harmful 10 take
milk of magnesium every night?
Answer: Milk Of magnesia, or
oxide of magnesia, is a very mild
laxative and a very good alkaline
neutralizer. 1t corrects sour stom-
cch. Large doses taken regularly
are well tolerated although il may
finally irritate the bowel and stom-
ach.