Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1883 — OBESITY. [ARTICLE]

OBESITY.

A Chapter for Fat People. [From Harper’s Baxar.J The disadvantages of obesity are numerous, its dangers to both health ind life not a few. One of the veryleast of the former is the difficulty a fat person has in getting about, and in taking that amount of exercise without which the body cannot long be maintained in the only state which can with propriety be called condition. Exercise alone will not reduce a man’s weight, though people usually believe so, but exercise will retard the accumulation of fat. Adipose tissue is, to those inclingd|o depositfld not only under the skin—it would bs'..well, indeed, if this were all —but in the spaces between the varyys muscles of the limbs, all around fee heart and fee kidneys, and in Why other vital positions that need ndtbe named. The accumulation of fat on and around the muscles naturally prevents activity of motion; but it does more and worse, for it throws a serious obstacle in fee way of those muscles’ receiving a due amount of nutrition; they are therefore weakened and rendered flabby. And here let me point out a fact to those of my readers who may meditate treating themselves for fee reduction of obesity. You may sometimes hear an expression like fee following from a stout man in the prime life: “If I could get rid of some twenty or twenty-five pounds of ‘ flesh’ ” —such people will persist in calling it flesh — •‘what would I do!” “Yes, my friend,” I should reply, “and pray what could you do? For if you were to get rid of nearly all the fat that is on you to-mor-row or the day after, you would not be able to walk twice the length of your own garden for cold and fatigue. Your muscles are attenuated and flabby, and if deprived suddenly of their cushions of fat they would be of very little use indeed. That really is the truth, whether you like it or not.” The deposition of fat around the kidneys or on the heart comes in time to interfere very seriously with the functions of those organs, and to engender diseases which ultimately lead to dropsy of a fatal character. If the heart is prevented from acting as it ought to, the health cannot be long maintained. If it be a flabby heart the blood will be impoverished, the person will have a sallow look, and be more or. less bloated in appearance. If the heart is enlarged or hypertrophied, we may expect Ujfich difficulty in breathing', especially- if fee patient attempts quick walking or hurried' climbing of 'stairs, perhaps frequent attacks of palpi*%snfwife now aad thenjßwiihming in IWfeW, “*** HiaiathM stfMalling, posited on the heart, but among its muscles, causing degeneration of , the walls of that organ, rendering the sufferer quite unfit for any of the moreactive pf life. of dat peophgjs yyyrihujynukterfered with; iu’deefOne might.say it fejgpJdom or4^retQ|jigP , ed feeling of comfort. Nor, on The other hand, is the digestion strong, nor the appetite either, unless excited by hot sauces or vinous stimulants. t If we glance for a moment or two at fie most common causes of corpulency e shall, I thing, get hints as to the but; even if it be, that jfeasoivre- 1 member, that it should not., be kept within due bonds. too easy igind and a sanguine manner of looking«t the every-day personal occurrences of life, is a cause over which one has little, if any control. Success in life is wished for devoutly by all, but it often has the effect of rendering people who are constitutionally inclined to be so, very corpulent. Well, people cannot be expected to manufacture small worries for themselves in order to keep within due bounds corporeally, but they can avoid fee pleasures of the Table, Jiowever well off in the world Inly Jtoay be. Indulgence in beer, AtouWand in wine and spirits has a Yen dene/to increase the amount of fat; so has the use of sugae, which experiments seem to prove is often turned into fat in the system, and even drinking too much water. Age has something to do with the acumulation of fat, men generally giving evidence of this condition of body between 30 and 40, and (women between 40 and 50, if not [before. If we consider obesity a disease—and if it be not actually so, it is at least a very distressing state of body—then we ought to be able to find out some scheme- for its general treatment. And here the question naturally arises, is it safe for a stout person to use means to reduce his svstem? As a rule it is, provided no extra harsh measures are adopted for that purpose. The danger in diminishing the quantity of fat in and on the body is trifling if it be gradually accomplished. The person about to undergo the process of reduction should be carefully weighed every week and the weight noted, being particular to wear exactly the same amount of clothes each time,. Some of fee bitter tonics may be at the same time used wife advantage so long as they do not constipate, because, while reducing fat, our object is to brace and tone muscle and nerve. Plenty of exercise should at the same time be taken in fee open air, but this should not be carried to the verge of fatigue. Over-indulgence in bed should be avoided, and the use of the tepid or cold sea-salt bath will be found to do much good, so, too, will an occasional Turkish bath; buton this point one’s own medical adviser should be consulted. I have no hesitation in saying that perseverance in this plan of treatment will work wonders.