The Doctor's Scrapbook

by Dr. J. W. Torbett, Sr., M. D.

Chapter 12
"Your Body, the Temple of Your Mind and Soul"
(A Lecture)

Man in his anatomical and mental make-up is indeed a wonderful and marvelous creature, fashioned by the All-Wise Creator. (Read Hebrews, 2nd chapter, 6th and 7th verses.)

There are five basic things that form the foundation of man's and woman's health and happiness: 1, Heredity; 2, Food and Drink; 3, Assimilation and Elimination; 4, Bacteria; 5, Philosophy of Life.

Heredity is what we get from our parents. Everyone knows that each one of us inherits some trait from one or the other parent, and there are other traits - not so easily detected - that may have skipped a generation or two, coming from our grandparents, or even farther back.

Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, showed in 1865, by carefully conducted experiments on dwarf and plant peas, that the Mendel Law of Heredity is true.

All human beings have 48 chromosomes, or twenty-four from each parent, which carry the germ cells of heredity. We do not actually inherit the disease itself, but we inherit the weak germ cells that have lower resistance against certain infections and certain diseases.. These are very well known, and should be taken into consideration always in matrimonial alliances.

The various diseases that are supposed to be transmitted from parents to children are: Migraine (sick headache), asthma, hay fever, chronic arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and some skin diseases. If there should be high blood pressure on both sides of the family, it is said that probably eighty to ninety per cent of the children will have it.

If we used half as much sense in making our selections of matrimonial partners, there would not be so many divorces as there are in the courts today.

Late authorities say that thirty-three per cent of all qis- eases we treat are due to emotional factors more numerous at the present time, owing to the strain of war and its after- math. They are functional in origin and are not organic troubles, the patients having inherited an unstable and nervous temperament.

Food and Drink

The protein foods are the muscle builders. They are found in meat, eggs, nuts, beans, cheese, and soy beans. The fats give a larger quantity of energy and heat to the body for work and for exercise; also for resisting colds. Fats are found, of course, in cream, butter, nuts - and especially in pecans and walnuts - but should not be eaten in excessive amounts. The proteins should be about one-seventh, and the fats about two-sevenths or three-sevenths of the total food calories eaten, depending on the kind of weather and the climate where one lives.

The carbohydrates are the starches and sugars. More molasses and honey should be used, and less sugar, to give energy for work and exercise, and for thought. Molasses contains much iron and Vitamin B.

The mineral salts and the vitamins are very necessary to health, but there is too great an emphasis put on vitamins in times like this. There are not so many deficiencies if the person is careful in selecting food and knows what vitamins are to be found in each. (See Supplement.)

Your Body, Assimilation and Elimination

Our assimilation is appropriating the elements of diet and food to the tissues of the body giving strength and energy and power to think and do.

Some people can do a great deal more on less food than others because they assimilate every particle of the energy the foods contain in an available form. However, we know now from atomic bombs that atomic energy is a very latent force which is in many kinds of substances, and can be liberated in a very much larger quantity than heretofore thought possible.

A bird can eat a few grains of wheat and fly many miles apparently assimilating and utilizing all the energy.

Food well prepared and invitingly served, of course, leads to better digestion and assimilation. A lively, active interest in the conversation and enjoyment at the table also are beneficial.

Foods that have grown on soils that are not exhausted and leached out of all the mineral elements, of course, we know, are much more valuable in giving energy.

Elimination means the throwing off of poison from the body in the form of air from the lungs, sweat from the skin, feces from the bowels, and urine from the kidneys, the four emunctories.

If you will cut off the breathing for ten minutes entirely, the person will usually died. Thousands of people are half starved apparently from want of air because of shallow breathing: Sit up erect.

The skin is an organ of elimination that regulates temperature and if you cut off the action of the skin entirely, for a few hours, one will die.

An old man told me, years ago, after hearing one of my lectures, that a very sad thing in his life was painting a negro and he died before he could get the paint off.

The bowels may go days without elimination and not kill one. I saw the movie of a chicken heart in 1926 at Cleveland at the American College of Physicians meeting; I saw the tissues die and writhe in the agony of death and there was no infection whatever in the fluid, but the fluid was allowed to remain too long without being changed. It has to be changed every few days and a little bit of serum from a young rooster had to be added so it would live, or otherwise it would not live. It died from its own poison from defective elimination.

There are many poisons in the body that should be eliminated through the emunctories - the skin, bowels, liver, lungs and kidneys - for good health.

The fourth point is bacteria. They are little animal or vegetable growth that get into the system as enemies and destroy the cells when taken in. They may go through the skin, but mostly through the nose and lungs with the air containing all sorts of germs, dust and dirt. That is why it is so important for the nose to be washed out every night before retiring and every morning, so that this dust, dirt and germs may be removed.

Many bacteria are helpful, but there are others that are very destructive to life and comfort. We have many medicines that are used for destroying germs in the body, but they usually will do harm, if the patient uses them too long and too strong. The blood should be tested frequently to see if there is any damage.

Strong drugs should always be given under the supervision of a doctor.

The fifth point is religion, philosophy of life, or what men live by. An old Persian proverb is, "If you have two loaves of bread and have no flowers, sell one loaf and buy some flowers to feed your soul."

It is a well known fact that hatred, anger, envy, jealousy, and all of these things that make life miserable are very destructive to one's health.

Hope, optimism, and joy are beneficial and helpful and produce better health if not too exciting. Too much excitement and joy and emotional upset exhaust the nerve cells and make one very depressed and weak. An even-tempered life is best, with regular habits.

Many phychosomatic, or nervous, cases that have no infection or physical basis, have been caused by some shock in the patient's early life, which can be analyzed and brought to the surface by the doctor with the patient's co-operation. A patient should seek back in his memory for some profound shock that produced a lot of worry - a very profound act in depressing the patient and maybe a spell of sickness. All of these things must be analyzed and looked into and may account for the patient's illness. A bad scare in children may be the basis of many phobias.

I had a patient once who came to me with nervousness and insomnia. He said that he awakened at three o'clock in the morning suddenly and his heart was running away. He knew that he didn't imagine it - it was an actual fact that he was not even awake to worry about it. I said, "Well, If you will help me, we will find out the cause. You must have had, at some time in your life, a very profound, exciting event take place - a house burn down, a dear friend die in your arms, or something like that." He thought a little bit and then said, "No, the only profound thing that I ever had in my life was when a man came in the window and took all the money I had - $500.00 in amount - and I am just about in the same shape now as I was then. I'm just about broke." I said, "Young man, that was the cause of your trouble, awaking at three o'clock in the morning. In the morning at three o'clock when you wake up suddenly that way, just say, 'Come in, old boy, you won't get but a nickel this time, and I'm going to sleep and not bother about you.' " And so he did and did not have any further trouble sleeping.

These cases frequently can be analyzed because of the profound shock in the subconscious mind, and if not successful then, of course, the expert advice of a psychiatrist must be enlisted. But many of these cases can be analyzed by the physician himself without hunting for the words that block the memory. There are other modern methods that the psychiatrists use now that are of greater help, but the emotions in the subconscious mind that are lingering and slumbering, like hate and jealousy, are very important factors in robbing one of joy, happiness and good health.

Posture

The importance of good posture in the healthy functioning of our internal organs, as well as its effect upon our appearance, cannot be over estimated.

A recent issue of Hygeia says: "One should stand as tall as possible without rising on his toes. The head should be up, the chin in, the chest up, and the feet a few inches apart and pointed forward. The abdomen should be in and flat, but not strained, and the hands should hang loosely at the sides. The individual should become conscious of his posture, but at the same time should try to be as relaxed as possible."

A normal body and evenly developed muscles capable of holding the body's positions are essential to good posture. Most people are born with these essentials, but incorrect habits of standing, walking, sitting, working and sleeping often result in postural defects. Poor vision or defective hearing, badly fitted shoes, or tight garments, may result in poor posture. Since balance is the keynote of good posture, those things that make for imbalance should be eliminated. A thorough examination by a competent physician will reveal the cause, and his suggestions will outline what is needed for correction.