The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-02-15
Your Health
-Blushing Due to
Rush of Blood in
Capillaries

IT WILL probably not be De-
lleved by anyone who knows me
at the present date, but when |
was young ! was troubled a good
deal by a very easy tendency to
blushing ! would DO II in public
when a certain young lady's name
was mentioned.
! remember a young friend who
used 70 provoke this reaction in me
and then call the attention Of the
company to the scarlet condition
Of my face. | never hated anybody
else half as much He is dead now,
buNthe memory fingers and If he
were alive | would report him
anonymously TO the ircome tax
collectors as a delinquent whether
! knew any evidence for it or not.
That is how much suffered.
A Lasting Habit
The habit lasted quite a time,
clear into early adult life. Ladies
who came to my office and de-
scribed some Of the more intimate
symptoms Of female physiology
could provoke It, so | would have
10 go in another room until the
congestion passed off.
| am over it now. You can tell
me anything and my capillal-es
will not culver. | rather regret it.
II shows not only hardening Of the
2apillaries, but of the mind.
| don't know how / happened to
get on this subject, but it is a phe-
nomenon that is worth discussing.
Blushing occurs not only in the
face but in the stomach and prob
ably the brain. And, Of course. il
does not indicate any deep organic
disease, Jdst a change in the bal
ance Of the nervous system due to
emotions.
II you were to put on one side OF
the ledger all the bad symptoms
and i'll health you have from nerv-
GUS imbalance due to emotions and
on the other side all the illness
you have from germs, allergy. poor
food habits, etc, the first list would
far outbalance the second.
A good many of these emotion
ally caused symptoms are due to
internal blushing, for instance,
headache and dyspepsia, to name a
couple of COMMON ones. So it
should be worth while to know Just
what blushing is.
Capillary Vessels
The capillary blood vessels, the
smallest of the vessels, are very
thinwalled tubes-so thin that the
blood inside them can be seen
through the walls. The blood in
the capillary vessels Of the skin is
what gives US our compilations. 1t
Is from the thinwalled capillaries
that the tissues abstract the nour-
ishment and oxygen they need.
The amount Of blood in any part
Of the capillary bed can be in
creased or decreased enormously
and is constantly subject to fiuctu-
alton as one part Of the body needs
blood with nourishment or not. The
control of the size Of these vessels
IS in the involuntary nervous sys-
tom which acts automatically and
cannot be controlled BY the will.
Emotional Control
II IS, however, under the control
OF the emotions. Under strong
emotion, the capillaries contract or
dilate as the case may be. Thus
with fear they contract and your
face is pale. With anger it is al
ternately pale and red. A shock
contracts them and can be seen as
pallor. Embarrassment dilates
them resulting in a blush.
In persons who have received a
head wound and part Of the skull
has been removed, the surface Of
the brain is seen to swell due to
capillary dilatation whenever they
have a headache.
There have been published in
1913 some studies on a man whose
stomach wall was exposed by a
necessary surgical operation. He
has been carefully observed over
long period by two doctors and
their findings throw much light on
our digestive functions. ! will dis
cuss them in the next two articles.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
f. H:-Could you please tell
me a cure for the itch? There are
eight Of US have it and we have
tried bathing in soda water,
Epson salts, ammonia, lysol. cuti-
oura soap, boric acid, dissolved
aspirin and alcohol. And nothing
helps.
Answer You have used every-
thing but the one remedy that will
work. Get some regular strength
sulphur ointment at the drug store
and out Il on for three nights.
o d reply filed in federal court
he Foundation, organized to de