Corset Diseases

It would seem that, on the ground of comfort alone, the wearing of corsets would be a thing of the past. Yet the wearing of corsets is one of the greatest evils with which women directly afflict themselves, and indirectly their offspring. Corsets, cannons, and cooks are said to claim about an equal number of victims. Human nature is a contrariety anyway. A woman will wear a tight fitting corset with, as she says, the greatest comfort, yet a tight fitting collar would not be tolerated a minute. Evidently it is all a question of style. That the wearing of corsets has produced untold misery, suffering and disease, is an indisputable and well known fact. Constriction of the waist, as takes place in the wearing of corsets, produces strangulation or interference with the circulation of the blood, and is responsible for the following :

1. The normal power of breathing is much restricted, the lungs are compressed, and there must be an insufficiency of air on this account.

2. Is the direct cause of many of the weaknesses and diseases peculiar to women, producing congestions and tumors.

3. Causes serious displacement in the organs of woman.

A. Is one of the principle causes of the agony in child bearing.

5. Is one of the principal causes of premature old age in women.

6. Is the direct cause of general disease of one or more organs below the diaphragm; this may be tumors of the liver or womb, chronic congestion or catarrh of the liver, kidneys, or womb.

7. Interferes with the circulation of the blood, producing strangulation.

A moment's thought cannot but convince any thinking person that anything that interferes with the circulation of the blood, as happens in the wearing of corsets, extended over a period of years, must be productive of serious disease. We know that gallstones, haemorrhoids, constipation and many other disease conditions, are a result of the corset curse.

Corsets can be replaced to advantage by many of the modern and sensible health-waists, which have all the advantages, and none of the disadvantages, of corsets.

Old Age. Elie Metchnikoff, the Director of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, in "The Nature of Man," has written very beautifully and interestingly on the theory of Senile Degeneration or Old Age. In it he proves that senile decay, or old age, is mainly due to destruction of the higher, nervous elements of the organism by macrophages, which are cells of a voracious or destructive character. These cells are distributed throughout every part of our bodies, having special functions of their own. They are capable of independent movement, and also of destroying all sorts of solid matters, which has gained for them their name of phagocytes or voracious cells. The phagocytes are divided into small active phagocytes, generally known as macrophages, and larger phagocytes called macrophages, the latter of which play a very important part in bringing about senile decay. It would appear then that one means of fighting against old age would be to strengthen the resistance of the higher elements, and to transform the " wild " population or the bacterial flora of the large intestine into a cultured and harmless population. These are the means by which the life of man may be considerably lengthened. This is to be brought about first and foremost by proper attention to a correct dietary, which must be of the right character and quantity - never in excess. Fruits and fruit juices are inimical to germs of all kinds. For this and many other reasons fruit is a diet especially adapted for the purposes of the prolongation of human life. According to physiological law, the duration of human life should be five times the period necessary to reach full growth - a period amounting to at least 100 years and upwards. The generality of men would live to this age, were they to live in moderation as Nature intended they should.

The Enslaving Drugs Alcohol, Tobacco, Tea, Coffee, Morphine, Opium

"Whatever thing makes man a slave, Takes half his worth away."

THE great majority of mankind are slaves to one or more poison habits. These individuals are certainly in the grasp of an octopus whose tentacles rarely relinquish their hold until the victim has paid the penalty with his life. In the Orient it is opium and tea, with us it is the full category from alcohol to opium. The natural vices in America are intemperance in eating, and intemperance in the use of alcoholic liquors. The close association of these two forms of intemperance has been referred to in the chapter on overeating. Of the evil effects of alcohol, one has but to look out upon the world with its prisons, jails and asylums, to read the daily newspapers' category of crime, only to be assured that alcohol creates untold misery, sending millions to premature destruction and death.

As is well known, alcohol is a product of the starch of grains, manufactured by a process of fermentation and subsequent distillation. Alcohol can in no sense be termed a food, nor is at any time necessary for the human economy. It can well be replaced to advantage by the physiological remedies : heat, cold and friction.

Alcohol is to be classed always as a deadly poison. Alcohol is like dynamite - always dangerous - liable to destroy the innocent and unsuspecting user without a moment's warning. The effect of alcohol upon man is to produce disease. A large sized volume might be written upon the subject of alcohol. The point to which we wish to direct attention is that the liquor habit, as a disease, is undoubtedly curable. The relation of diet to intemperance is of paramount importance. In intemperance in eating, the sense of taste becomes perverted, cravings and gnawings follow from the irritation of the stomach, and alcohol in many instances is a usual recourse. One of the very first indications in the treatment of individuals addicted to the use of alcoholic liquors, or even of any other enslaving drug, is the careful regulation of the diet, which in many instances, alone and of itself, suffices to bring about a cure. An individual addicted to the use of alcoholic liquors is the victim of a disease. This is the rational and common sense way of looking at it. Individuals suffering from alcoholism are fit subjects for treatment and should so be considered. Chronic alcoholism is certainly curable. To this end, in addition to dietary regulations of which one essential is the total abstinence from flesh foods on account of their well known stimulating properties, are to be included hot and cold baths, friction, electricity, etc. A dietary of fruit is especially indicated in the treatment of alcoholism. Drug specification is the last but not the most important factor in these cases.