Health and Happiness, Number 36. Why Die Before Your Time? HOW TO BAFFLE BRIGHT’S DISEASE. By Henry Smith Williams, M. D., LL.D. Hearst's Magazine. The old Romans had a saying to the effect that many people dig their graves with their teeth. This rather vulgar phrase proba- bly expressed a profound truth in that day, and it is equally true in our own time. I presume it would not be an over-estimate to say that about half the people in Christendom shorten their lives more or less by over-eat- ing or by perverse eating. To make the paradox complete, we may recall that a pretty large pro- portion of the other half of humanity suffer from an inadequate ration—a shortage of some dietetic essential. Half of the world dying of gluttony, the other half of starvation! An incongruous situation, is it not? I speak, of course, of conditions be- fore the war—conditions of so-called normal life; which, if the paradox be permitted, are abnormal enough. That we should yearn for long life and then should day by day permit ourselves to indulge habits that inevitably shorten life, constitutes perhaps the most co- gent indictment of our status as “ra- Yona! animals,” that could be present- ed. To offset this indictment it must be recalled that, for the major part of the adult population, eating is the, greatest and the most abiding source of pleasure. The short-cut to the grave has at least the merit of being a pleasant pathway. Not quite all the way, however. There comes a time when penalties are exacted in the way of disturbing and painful maladies. For example, Bright's Disease—inflammation of the kidneys, technically known as nephri- tis—may develop. In fact, this is precisely what does occur to a large proportion of the great army of gor- mandizers. And Bright’s Disease is not at all a pleasant condition. It is a lingering but insistent type of mal- ady, with many exceedingly disagree- able symptoms. When fully develop- ed it cannot be shaken off. It causes the death of about one individual in fourteen in the entire population. _ A redeeming feature of the malady is that it is largely preventable. Moreover, its progress may be retard- ed and its symptoms made more bear- able by the application of rules of hy- giene that every individual may ap- ply for himself. In order to apply the rules intelli- gently, however, it is necessary to understand clearly the causes of the malady; and that brings us back to the question of intelligent eating, which I purpose now to discuss some- what in detail. There is no more important topic before the public in these days of food shortage, whether considered from the standpoint of individual welfare or of public policy. The essence of the matter is that the human body is a heat engine, and that edible foods are its fuel. When you burn wood or coal in a furnace you produce waste products—ashes and cinders. These must be removed if the fire is to be kept up. When you burn food in the human engine—your body—you produce waste products— organic ashes and cinders—that must be removed if your life processes are to be kept up. From the present standpoint the essential fact is that certain of the most important of these waste pro- ducts are removed from the body al- most exclusively by the kidneys. When the waste-products are in ex- cess undue strain is put upon these organs Of elimination. Thus over- worked, the kidneys may develop the disturbed conditions that underlie Bright’s disease. That is the story in a nutshell. But it will bear elaborat- ing. The particular waste-products that are removed from the body by way of the kidneys are the end-products of the digestion of protein-bearing or ni- trogenous foods (meats, milk, eggs). These end-products contain an incre- ment of nitrogen that has either serv- ed its purpose in the bodily economy or has proved unavailable for the pro- cess of tissue-building. This nitro- gen is combined in organic salts, the most familiar of which are known as urea, uric acid, and creatinine. These are dissolved in the blood, and are fil- tered out through the kidneys. The bulk of nitrogen thus removed as a, waste-product from the average human system every twenty-four hours is only about half an ounce, but even this small quantity, if retained in’ the body, would constitute a fatal poison. So the kidneys must be per- petually on duty, never for a moment Jelosing their activities. The ex- treme importance of their functions is doubtless the reason why two of these organs are provided, either one of which is competent, under normal conditions, to do the entire work of both. Incidentally, the fact that even this double equipment so commonly proves inadequate suggests the magnitude of the dietetic over-indulgence of the av- erage individual. To get still nearer the heart of the matter, it should be observed that over-eating of animal foods is the par- ticular kind of dietetic indulgence that is the preponderant cause of Bright's disease. To be sure, the text-books mention hypertrophy: of the heart, hardened arteries, and rheumatism among the causes of nephritis. But these condi- tions, as we have seen, all hark back to disturbances of assimilation, and are to be considered as companion disturbances rather than as causes; altheugh of course the different bodi- ly processes are so linked and asso- ciated that a disturbance of any one of them necessarily implies a resul- tant disturbance of others. It is axiomatic to say that anything which tends to weaken the kidneys or to put exceptional strain on them may contribute to their overthrow. Acute infections, certain poisons, such as bichloride of mercury, chronic ma- laria, and exposure to cold are among such factors. But the fundamental fact, let me repeat, is that the chief work of the kidneys consists in the elimination of nitrogenous waste-pro- ducts, and that the amount of work they are called upon to do, month in and month out, is determined primari- ly by the amount of nitrogenous food digested. This is equivalent to saying that the amount of ashes in your furnace depends upon the amount of fuel you burn. To illustrate the excessive work that the average diet puts upon the kid- neys, we may recall that the physiol- ogists speak of a nitrogen output of from 14 to 16 grams per day as rep- resenting the average for a man of ordinary size. This would be the equivalent of from about 90 to about 100 grams of proteins in the diet, or from three to three and a half ounces. But some convincing experiments sug- gest that about half this quantity is sufficient for the needs of the average individual. Some investigators be- lieve that even less than this would suffice. Taken at face value, these data seem to imply that the average indi- vidual eats twice as much nitrogenous food as is needed, and thus puts dou- ble work on the kidneys day by day. Perhaps it is not to be wondered at, {under such circumstances, that so large a proportion of kidneys prove inadequate to meet the strain. The kidney that is inherently rather weak may show its exhaustion by develop- | ing an acute inflammation. A strong- ! er kidney may gradually develop what is known as a chronic parenchyma- | tous inflammation resulting in dan- | gerous modifications of its cellular | structure. Yet another kidney may | become, in effect, prematurely old | from overwork, developing what is | technically known as chronic intersti- tial nephritis, which is regarded as an evidence of premature senility. But all these modifications fall within the general classification of Bright’s Disease, and are associated with a variety of general disorders (dropsy, heart affections, high blood- pressure, headache, difficult breath- ing), terminating in general toxicity commonly known as uraemic poison- ing, due to retention of urea and oth- er nitrogenous waste-products. Meantime the kidney which is so damaged that it no longer adequately eliminates the nitrogenous waste-pro- ducts may permit the passage of al- bumens which are found in normal blood, but which do not normally pass through the kidney membranes. When Bright's Disease is thus ful- ly established, it is universally admit- ted to be an incurable condition in the present state of our knowledge. No way is known of restoring the chron- ically perverted tissues of the kidneys to normality. Nevertheless palliative measures may be employed that may greatly benefit the patient and, in many instances, prolong his life al- most indefinitely. The essential object of all such treatment is to reduce to a minimum the work put upon the kidneys. Some- thing toward this end may be accom- plished by urging the skin and the intestinal tract to undertake vicarious activities. By wearing woolens next to the skin, thus inducing a relatively free perspiration, a certain amount of fluid may be removed from the body that must otherwise pass through the kidneys. Similarly the use of mild laxatives may be of service. Vigor- ous exercise is a sine qua non. But in the last analysis it appears that no other organs of the body can fully take the place of the kidneys in se- lecting, and removing from the blood, urea and the other end-products of the broken down protein molecule. So no treatment can be considered in any wise radical that does not give. first consideration to the amount of such products that the system is called up- on to carry off. AVERAGE AMERICAN DIETARY. This obviously leads to the ever- present problem of protein foods; and, specifically to the question of a meat diet, since there is comparatively little danger that the average individual will take an excess of proteins except in this form. One need only glance at the menu card of the average hotel or restau- rant, or observe the food on the table of any well-to-do family, to realize that the typical dietary of the Amer- ican of today is built upon a founda- tion of animal proteins. The conven- tional table d’hote dinner includes sheep, ending with cheese. Here are five animal proteins. Even a very un- pretentious dinner is almost certain to contain three or four, one at least of which will be taken in relatively large quantity. Yet it is fairly certain that the din- ers who partake of this fare with such relish include some individuals who are thereby poisoning themselves and putting upon their kidneys a task that these much-abused organs are able to carry out with difficulty if at all The broad general result of these unfortunate dietetic habits, combined with sundry other abrogations of com- mon sense and rational hygiene on the part of the American people, is that there are now approximately 350,000 deaths in the United States annually from organic diseases of the kidneys and urinary system and of the heart and circulatory system (including ap- oplexy and paralysis), and that there is an apparent increase of 40 per cent. in such deaths in this country within the past twenty years. By way of contrast it may be noted that similar mortality tables for England and Wales, and in Prussia, Denmark, Swe- den and France, show a slight down- ward tendency. Mortality from the organic diseases just mentioned has increased in Massachusetts, in thirty years, by 86 per cent; in fifteen American cities by 94 per cent. While the death toll from tuberculosis and most communicable diseases has been falling, the curve that records the deaths from the diseases enumerated oysters, fish, fowl, and flesh of ox or | above has gone up with surprising regularity and alarming rapidity. PROTEINS NECESSARY TO LIFE. If, as has just been suggested, this increase of “degenerative” diseases is associated with the over-eating of pro- tein foods, it certainly will not be amiss to examine in brief detail the role of such foods in the bodily econ- omy, making specific inquiry as to the amount of protein needed in a really normal dietary and the kind of pro- tein that may best serve the purposes of the system, with particular refer- ence to the shielding of the kidneys against undue activities. In so doing we shall have occasion to examine certain theories of bodily action that have been put forward very recently, but which are coming to be accepted as throwing new light on the entire problem of protein assimilation in health and in disease. Stated in the fewest possible words, the situation is this: Every living basis. The chief constituents of this molecule are carbon, hydrogen, oxy- gen, and nitrogen. It is the nitrogen- ous element that distinguishes protein foods from other elements of the di- et, namely the carbo-hydrates and the fats, both of which comprise carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but neither of which contains nitrogen. The muscular and glandular sys- tems of the body, and the main con- stituents of the blood, are proteins, or nitrogenous substances. The ac- tivity of these organs and tissues im- plies the breaking down of their pro- tein molecules. It follows that the or- ganism must constantly have a fresh supply of proteins brought to-it in the food, else its tissues would waste away, leading to early death. So we cannot possibly get along without a certain amount of protein food. On the other hand, it is now known that the muscular tissues do not ex- haust their nitrogen supply rapidly, even when they are in very active ex- ercise. Apparently some of the nitro- gen atoms in a muscle-cell are used over and over, only a residual number being eliminated to form the nitrogen- ous waste-products that the kidney handles. Meantime, however, the pounds in the average body, are ni- trogenous bodies that are constantly being destroyed in vast numbers in the liver. They must be recruited with equal rapidity from the parent cells in the bone marrow if normal condi- tions are to obtain. And of course the corpuscle-build- ing cells in the bone marrow cannot work without nitrogenous material, which must be supplied from the di- gestive tract. In cases of slightly different type, the primary digestion of starchy and fatty food may be very defective, or there may be excessive demands upon the energy of the system, so that such foods are burned up and eliminated, the by-products being water and car- bonic-acid gas, the latter of which es- capes by way of the lungs. In such a case, anaemia is more generally recognized because the patient is thin and obviously bloodless. A not-unnatural assumption on the part of the patient, which the physi- cian often substantiates, is that such an individual needs “good red meat” and plenty of it to “make blood” and “build up his strength.” Yet in point of fact, where the origin of the diffi- culty is as above outlined, meat is of all things the one that the patient does tissue has the protein molecule for its | blood corpuscles, which in the aggre- | gate make up a bulk of about four not need, and one that he cannot take without positive detriment. Placed on a vegetable diet, with the protein intake at a minimum, and giv- en treatment to stimulate the blood- forming organs to renewed activity, such a patient may recuperate rapid- ly, gain weight and strength, and have his blood brought back to normal, while the kidneys are relieved of ex- cess work and given the best possible opportunity to become rehabilitated. As to the particular line of medica- tion that may best contribute to stim- ulate the blood-forming organs to ' bring about this restoration of normal | bodily conditions, I shall speak briefly {but explicitly. Recent experience suggests that all the older remedies, | including iron, ‘arsenic, and sundry digestive tonics, are of negligible im- portance, as stimulators of the blood- forming mechanism, in comparison { with the hypodermic use of non-spe- cific vegetable proteins. As I have personally been respon- sible, jointly with my office colleague, for the inauguration of this line of | treatment, I would speak with due re- serve concerning its possibilities. But as we have now made careful obser- vation of not far from five hundred cases, extending over a period of three years, and as, in our experience, a radical modification of the blood-count under protein treatment that would seem miraculous by any other method has become a commonplace, I may be excused for speaking with a measure of confidence. RESULTS OF THE NEW TREATMENT. I have observed the red corpuscles of a patient suffering from a grave form of anaemia increase from three and a half million to five and a half million to the cubic millimeter in ten days, with absolutely no treatment except the hypodermic injection, on alternate days, of five or six drops of a two-per-cent. solution of vegetable proteins extracted from such common- place substances as mustard seed, al- falfa meal, and millet. 1 have previously explained the ac- tion of the proteals as based on the fact that any proteins in the blood- stream are attacked by certain of the white corpuscles, and subsequently by the red corpuscles, and that the de- struction of the assailants stimulates the blood-forming organs to produce ‘their successors, on a well-known physiological principle. The proba- ble reason why the introduction of the proteins hypodermically produces so | spectacular a result is that these are | proteins to which the system has not i become accustomed or immunized as it has to the ordinary food proteins. | As a matter of course the function- al activities of the various organs and tissues of the body, all being in the last analysis dependent upon an ad- | equate blood supply, respond to the improvement in blood conditions. It goes without saying, also, that while administering the treatment that | leads to such improvement in the | blood, one is careful to remove, if pos- sible, the causes of the original dis- - order. {| An ordinary slice of bread contains five or six grams of proteins; an or- ‘ dinary helping of potatoes, carrots, or | parsnips, four or five grams; of beans | or peas, eight or ten grams each. By | bearing these figures in mind, you | may estimate the amount of proteins ‘in your individual diet. By limiting | the’ protein intake to 40 or 50 grams | the destruction of blood corpuscles | will be minimized, and the work put upon the kidneys reduced by perhaps | 50 per cent. RECOVERS FROM KIDNEY AND STOMACH TROUBLE AFTER FOUR YEARS’ SUFFERING. Mrs. S. D. Haines, of Mill Hall, Prais- es Goldine—What it Has Done for Her is Enough to Make Any One a Friend of Such a Remedy. She says: For four years I suffered with stomach, kidney and bladder trouble, I had such a pain in my back all the time I could hardly do my work. Nights it would ache so badly I could not sleep and at times my shoulders and limbs would pain. The doctors said it was rheumatism and perhaps it was but since I have been taking Goldine Alterac it is all gone. My stomach gave me a great deal of trouble. I bloated badly with gas, be- come short of breath at times and fre- quently had bilious headaches, I was scarcely ever free from a feeling of dizziness. My appetite was not good and I became weak. I got a bottle of Goldine for the stomach and nerves, I am surprised at the results. I haven’t had a spell of indigestion or shortness of breath since taking it. My appetite is good and I feel stronger. spells of headache either, which is a great relief to me. Before I got Goldine and Goldine I have no more bo ETE EET The Goldine Remedies are made from roots, herbs, barks and berries, and are as pure as nature and scientific chemistry can make them. What Do You Know About Goldine? Why That is the Remedy That Gave Me Back My Health When All Other Remedies Failed. Alterac my kidneys were so bad I had to get up from three to four times every night, but now I never get up more than once and some nights not at all. I am more than satisfied with Goldine and glad to recommend it to any one. MRS. S. D. HAINES, Mill Hall, Pa. THIS IS THE GOLDINE MAN —a1at— GREEN’S PHARMACY. Call and see him and let him explain this new herb treatment free of all charges. It has helped thousands; will you let it help you? GOLDINE is used in the treatment of stomach, heart, nerves, indigestion, physical decline and debility, to build you up and create strength. Liquid. Price $1.00 per bottle. GOLDINE ALTERAC is used for catarrh, kidney, bladder, liver, blood, rheumatism, weak back, eruptive and skin diseases and to purify the entire System; Liquid. Price $1.00 per bot- e. GOLDINE LAXATIVES, are used for constipation, costiveness, liver trouble, gall troubles, congestion of the liver and for cleaning the organs of digestion and excretion. 25c¢ per box. Goldine or Goldine Alterac will be expressed to any address in the Unit- ed States at $1.00 per bettle, six for $5.00. Laxatives mailed at 25c¢ per x, GOLDINE COMPANY, N. C, (Eastern Ohio Division) Youngstown, Ohio. —— mmm Shoes. Shoes. wm» Come to the “Watchman” office for High Class Job work. . FEBRUARY SHOE SALE eS AT es YEAGER SHOE STORE| PD the month of February I will reduce the prices on all shoes. This is not a sale of another store’s stock, but a sale of my own good quality of shoes at Reduced Prices. NOW IS YOUR TIME to purchase your needs in the shoe line, even though you may not need them for | months to come. | Girls $7.00 Tan, High Top, Low Heel Shoes Reduced to $5.00. YEAGER'S SHOE STORE THE SHOE STORE FOR THE POOR MAN Bush Arcade Building 58-27 BELLEFONTE, PA. —- LYON & COMPANY. Spring Coats and Suits We are showing the latest styles in Ladies’ and Misses’ Coats and Coat Suits. Every week something different and ex- clusive in this department. Spring Goods. We are receiving every few days a large assortment of new Dress Fabrics in wool, silk and cotton. Owing to inventory of stock, we are making big reductions on Shoes for men, women and children. { Winter Coats and Suits. Our entire stock of Winter Coats and Suits must go now. Save money and get the best values. This season’s goods at less than cost of manufacture. 9 handsome Plush Coats, 12 Cloth Coats in all colors, 7 Black Kersey and Chiffon Broadcloth Coats, all this sea- son’s styles and all sold at sacrifice prices. A cordial invitation to all. The best styles and qualities always sell first. Lyon & Co. -.~ Bellefonte. | ~
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