CARE OF THE BODY’S INDIVIDUAL PARTS: HEART
The heart is a muscular, pear-shaped organ, slightly bigger than your fist, composed of four chambers with valves in them.
The heart is by no means a delicate organ. It has been handled by surgeons who have successfully sewn up wounds in it and have repaired or replaced the valves and corrected malformations. Protected by the tough and resilient ribs, the heart is rarely damaged by a blow. Like any healthy muscle, a healthy heart is not injured by exercise. However, there are definite limits to the amount of strain that should be placed on a middle-aged, old, or damaged heart. If you are over 40, such strenuous activities as shovelling sand or high-altitude hiking can precipitate heart strain. If you are overweight, your heart has to work much harder than it would if your weight were normal.
Guard your heart by avoiding obesity and, if you are middle-aged, by being sensible about exercise. In addition, follow this piece of advice: take your heart seriously but don’t worry about it. This may sound contradictory, but it is not. It simply means that you should have your heart checked at your regular medical examination, and if the doctor says it’s all right, forget about it.
Between your check-ups, you can keep your heart in good condition by some everyday precautions and activities. Avoid excessive smoking, especially if there is a tendency to heart attacks in your family. If you must smoke, use a pipe occasionally or a mild cigar. A good diet, with regular spacing of meals, helps the heart to work at its best. Keep your work and social life under control so that you are not chronically fatigued. Avoid reducing pills, as they may contain thyroid If you are so tense and driven in our competitive world that you suffer from a tendency to high blood pressure or heart pains (angina pectoris), ask your doctor about the advisability of a talk with a psychotherapist. You may be able to reduce the nervous tension to the point where you will avoid trouble with your heart in later life.
The great enemies of your heart are the following diseases (read the detailed accounts of them in the encyclopaedia section so that you will be alerted to their dangers and know what medical science has learnt about their prevention or mitigation): coronary heart disease, diabetes, hardening of the arteries, hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperthyroidism, nephritis (Bright’s disease), rheumatic fever (not rheumatism or arthritis, which do not
affect the heart), and syphilis.
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