What is arteriosclerosis?

Arteriosclerosis-Hardening of the Arteries

Q. What is arteriosclerosis?

A. This disease is much more common than formerly supposed. The cause is the circula­tion of poisons in the blood. There are many poisons which produce hardening of the ar­teries. The most active of these are syphilis, lead, alcohol, tobacco, caffein, the poison of tea and coffee, and last, but not least, colon poisons. It is probable that poisons generated in the colon from the putrefaction of undigested portions of meat are the most common and most serious cause of hardening of the arteries and premature senility. A very common symptom which results f rom hardening of the arteries is a rise of blood pressure. The normal blood pressure is 100° to 120° F. In arteriosclerosis the blood pressure may rise to 200 and even 300. In many cases changes of the arteries occur without a rise of blood pressure.

An elevation of blood-pressure generally gives rise to very little inconvenience at first. Later come shortness of breath, insomnia, and num­erous other distressing symptoms. High blood­ pressure is an exceedingly grave symptom, and when found present should lead to, an immedi­ate change of habits in renouncing the use of tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol or any other habit drug.

Condiments must be discarded from the diet­ary; also meats of all sorts. The bowels must be made to move three or four times every day.

Every possible means should be taken to sup­press the development and absorption of poisons. An out-of-door life, a large amount of moder­ate exercise and warm (not hot) baths are of great importance in reducing the high pressure. The electric light bath used in moderation ren­ders most valuable service. Massage of the whole body and thorough friction of the skin should be applied daily. In many cases these simple measures bring down the blood-pressure thirty or forty points, sometimes even more. Ar­teriosclerosis is naturally a progressive disease, hence must be fought with great thoroughness and persistency. A person who finds himself a victim of the malady must prepare himself for a life-long struggle with the disease as the only condition on which he can hope to extend his life for any considerable period. The final re­sult of arteriosclerosis is apoplexy, Bright's dis­ease, heart disease, or a combination of the three maladies, or the so-called cardio-vascular-renal disease.

When the disease is localized in the kidneys, a form of Bright's disease develops. In the liver the result is cirrhosis. In the brain apoplexy occurs through rupture of the degenerated ar­teries. In the early stage of the disease the blood-pressure rises slightly above normal, but when the number of blood vessels affected is so great that the area for the circulation of the blood is materially diminished, the blood-pres­sure is raised as a compensatory measure so that a proper amount of blood may be distributed to the various bodily organs. As a matter of fact, the blood-pressure is never any higher than it needs to be to secure the proper blood supply for each bodily organ.