Chapter X.
Health.
The highest degree of happiness and usefulness attainable in this world is not to be had by any one who does not possess a sound mind in a sound body. Attention to health, therefore, is one of the first duties we owe to ourselves and society, because without a healthy body we cannot have a sound mind, nor efficiently perform our duties in life. This is so plain a proposition that all can at once comprehend it.
Young ladies are proverbial for being careless in regard to health; and this, strangely enough, is particularly the case with those who have the most delicate constitutions. The hundreds who die annually of pulmonary affections, owe, in two cases out of every three, their early death to unwise and unnecessary exposure of themselves, thinly clad, in cold and damp weather. The warnings of physicians and friends seem alike unavailing; and their earnest representation of the real danger that threatens them is treated as a chimera, conjured up by over-anxiety, to frighten them. Even the fearfully rapid encroachments of a deadly disease do not, in too many instances, give the requisite prudence; and the unhappy victim sinks speedily into the grave, with little less than the crime of self-murder upon her head. These things are sad to think about; and their frequency and familiarity make them none the less painful subjects of reflection. But, as the only hope of reformation here lies in continued precept, we deem it a solemn duty, whenever an opportunity offers, to add our voice to the general voice of warning heard every where on this subject.
The doing of any thing that requires self-denial, or more than ordinary care, is dependent upon an adequate motive. One would think that there were motives strong enough to prompt every young lady to be careful of her health; and so there are; the difficulty is, that she cannot be made to feel that what she does, or omits to do, really injures her, because the ill effects do not become immediately apparent. She is told that irregularity in eating, late hours, exposure to draughts of air, the atmosphere of crowded rooms, thin dressing, tight lacing, and various other things, injure her health. But she eats four meals to-day, and two to-morrow; she stands at the front door without additional covering to her neck, or any thing on her head, to talk with a departing friend; and she attends balls, the theatre, and concerts, two or three times a week, wearing thin dresses and thin shoes: all this she does for a time, without feeling in herself any ill effects; or, if she feels them, she will not believe in the true cause. Such being the case, it is almost impossible to make her sensible that she is sowing in her system the seeds of incurable diseases, the germination and growth of which no after care will prevent, and which will either bring her early to the grave, or entail upon her a life of suffering, attended with inability to discharge her duty to those most dearly loved, and for whose happiness and welfare she would be willing to make almost any sacrifice. That such is really the fact, the sad results of just such an abuse of health are to be seen all around us—results that all intelligent physicians, and all persons of observation and common sense, know must flow from the causes just set forth. Surely, then, an adequate motive for prudence and care in these things is to be found in the fact, that, if no regard be paid to them, the health will be undermined, or destroyed altogether.
In “The Young Lady’s Friend,” a most excellent book, written by Mrs. Farrar, there is a chapter on the “Means of Preserving Health,” which we would particularly recommend to the attention of every young girl. By a careful perusal of that chapter, she will be able so fully to comprehend the laws of health, and to see the reason why an abuse of those laws necessarily brings disease, as to require no further argument from relatives and friends, to induce prudence and carefulness on her part.
Where a hereditary predisposition to consumption exists, as it always does, if that disease have manifested itself in either parent, the necessity for carefulness in regard to health is of more vital importance than if such predisposition did not exist. Abuse of health in others may lay the foundation for diseases that only entail suffering in after life; but abuse of health in these is almost sure to lead to premature death.
By some it is supposed and asserted, that whoever is born of consumptive parents will be sure to die of consumption; and that a large proportion are destined to die before the prime of life is reached. That this is most generally the case is certainly true; but we do not believe that the result follows as an absolute consequence of the hereditary predisposition, but from an abuse of health, by which latent causes are excited into active causes. On this subject, it may be useful to quote the remarks of a French medical writer by way of authority. He says, “Besides the occasional causes of chronic pneumonia, (consumption,) which are all the agents that excite, stimulate, or irritate the organs of respiration, and consequently the same as those of acute pneumonia, there are predisposing causes. Predisposition consists in a peculiar irritability of the lung, which renders it more sensible to the impression of irritating agents, and, consequently, more apt to contract irritation. There is no age, no sex, no temperament, which may not be affected with pneumonia; but experience has demonstrated that the predisposition, the peculiar irritability of which we speak, is most frequently found among individuals who have the constitution which has been named phthisical, the characters of which are the following: narrow chest, long and small neck, slender limbs, a tall, thin stature, delicate skin, circumscribed redness of the cheek, the lymphatico-sanguine temperament. The scrofulous constitution likewise gives a predisposition to tubercles, and consequently to chronic pneumonia. As the organic structure transmits an hereditary character, it results that in the same family we may often encounter the same irritation, derived from this cause; or, what is the same thing, we meet with a predisposition to the same maladies. It does not, however, follow that these individuals are irrevocably condemned to contract the diseases of their parents; but, to secure an exemption from them, they must avoid the influence of the occasional causes more carefully than individuals not predisposed.” * * * “Those who have great pulmonary irritability should make up their minds to practise self-denial in a great many things. They should avoid the vicissitudes of heat and cold, singing, hallooing, declamation, stimulating food and drink, &c.”
From this it is seen, that while a person who inherits a predisposition to lung diseases is in great danger, yet exemption from their effects may be secured; but only by great prudence, and a cautious regard to health. In some constitutions, where there exists a great susceptibility to inflammation of the throat and lungs, exists also a predisposition to the formation in the lungs of what are called tubercles, or little foreign bodies that irritate the surrounding parts, and produce ulcerations. When these tubercles are once formed, the disease assumes, in most cases, an incurable type. The necessity to life of the unceasing activity of the lungs, every portion of which is made up of little vessels for the reception and purification of the blood, makes it almost impossible for any healing process to go on after ulceration has once commenced. We mention this form of the disease here, in order that the necessity for avoiding all the exciting causes may be fully seen. The formation of these tubercles, and the production of other incurable changes in the lungs, may be prevented by wisely abstaining from every thing that would in any way interfere with the healthy functions of the body; or, rather, by giving to the subject of health the most careful attention, and by wisely following the advice of those whose age, experience, and position, entitle their opinions to respect and consideration. The mere avoidance of draughts of air and crowded rooms, thin dressing and damp feet, are not all that is necessary to guard the individual, who has a predisposition to consumption, against its fearful attacks. The health of each part of the body is dependent upon the health of the whole body, as much as the health of the whole is dependent upon the health of each part. Any thing that deranges the general health will be felt most quickly in the part that is weakest; and therefore any thing that deranges the general health of a person who has a predisposition to consumption, will affect the lungs. The strictest regard to health should therefore be paid, in every particular, by those who are at all liable to pulmonary affections, if they would escape the danger that threatens them. They should take plenty of exercise, and use daily cold ablutions of the whole body, followed by active friction, to restore fully the circulation to the skin. By exercise they will invigorate the whole system, and by the free use of water they will keep the skin healthy, and take away the liability to cold, on any sudden exposure. Strict regard should also be had to the food that is eaten, and to the manner of eating it. The diet should be nutritious, but not stimulating, and the quantity of food taken ought never to be so great as to oppress the system. Such articles of food as do not digest well—and what they are every one can easily decide from experience—should be avoided, because indigestion weakens the powers of the stomach, and by sympathy those of the whole body; and worse, as it is the business of the stomach to prepare the food for use in the body, in supplying the waste that is always going on, if it be in an unhealthy state from any cause, its work cannot be properly done, and the consequence must be, that every part of the body will suffer. A good digestion, however, does not always depend upon the quality of the food taken; the best food in the world will be rendered indigestible if it be not sufficiently masticated, or is eaten too fast. Great care should also be taken to keep the chest well protected, and on no account to sit in draughts of air, nor to venture out of doors in cold weather without putting on additional clothing, and covering the head. Often we see young ladies running in to a neighbor’s three or four doors off, in midwinter, without even the addition of a light shawl over the head or shoulders. It is no wonder that colds are the result of such indiscretion, often leading to serious inflammation of the air-tubes, or lungs.
If, in spite of all her best precautions, a young lady, who has every reason to believe that she inherits a tendency to disease of the lungs, takes cold, and is attacked with hoarseness and a slight cough, she should feel sufficient concern to prompt her to take the greatest possible care of herself. The advice of the family physician ought immediately to be obtained, and she should, in the strictest manner, abide by his directions. While the cold remains, she should, on no account, go out in damp, chilly weather, nor attend any ball, concert, or public assembly, where the air, necessarily impure from being breathed by so many, must increase, instead of allaying, the irritation of her lungs. Our best advice here, however, is to enjoin a strict adherence to the directions of the family physicians.
Slight colds, in some constitutions, are matters of little moment; but in others they are frequently attended by the most serious consequences, and always increase a natural predisposition to diseases of the throat and chest. The habit of thinking and speaking lightly of colds, among the former, causes the latter too often to regard them as of little account; but in this they commit a dangerous and too often fatal error. Almost every case of confirmed and hopeless disease of the lungs may be traced back to a slight cold.
We dwell upon this subject because of its great importance, beyond the mere fact of the retention of health and preservation of life by the individual. The fearful encroachments of the disease now under consideration is one that is lamented by all. So certainly does it, in most cases, early find its victims, especially among the female sex, that the instances are becoming rare, that the daughter of a mother who has died of consumption attains her thirtieth year. Too frequently she sinks into the grave ere she has passed more than a few summers beyond the bright period of womanhood. But this is by no means a necessary consequence. If the present generation of young persons, constitutionally liable to the disease in question, would successfully strive to keep it from developing itself in them, they would transmit to their offspring a predisposition to the disease in a less active form; and if they would, in turn, be equally as prudent as their parents, they might transmit the tendency in a still less active form to their offspring, so that, in a few generations, this destructive foe of the young, the pure, and the beautiful, would no longer occupy its present prominent place in our catalogue of diseases.
If any of our young readers can see the importance of the subject, viewed in this light, they cannot but feel more deeply than ever the duty that rests upon them to preserve their health for the sake of the happiness of others, and the general well-being of society. The consequences arising from abuse of health does not always rest with an individual; and a knowledge of this, if no other motive be strong enough, should prompt every one to seek its preservation.
Every young girl knows that she will, in a few years, have to take her place in society as a woman. Let her look at her mother and her mother’s friends, and see how much the well-being and happiness of others are dependent upon the retention of their lives and the preservation of their health. In a few years, she will, in all probability, stand in the same relation to society as her mother now does, and have as many duties to perform, involving the comfort and happiness of others. If, when this time come, through her youthful folly and indiscretion, her health be gone, her lot will be a sad one indeed. Pain and disability will attend the performance of even the most trifling duty, and she will be a burden to herself, and the source of anxiety and grief to her nearest and best friends; and, it may be, just as the tenderest ties that can bind a woman to earth are formed, death will rudely break them asunder.
What other considerations can we urge upon our fair young friends to induce them to regard the admonitions of those who love them, and are wiser than they are? The means of preserving health are accessible to all. There is not so much ignorance on this subject as disinclination to make a temporary sacrifice of present desires, in order to secure a great and lasting good. Such being the case, we have sought rather to present motives for the preservation of health, than rules for attaining the so much desired object. Where a disposition to take proper care of the health exists, a knowledge of the means necessary to be used are easily attained.