Disease never comes without a cause. The way is
prepared, and disease invited, by disregard of the laws of
health. Many suffer in consequence of the transgression of
their parents. While they are not responsible for what their
parents have done, it is nevertheless their duty to ascertain
what are and what are not violations of the laws of health.
They should avoid the wrong habits of their parents and, by
correct living, place themselves in better conditions.
The greater number, however, suffer because of their own
wrong course of action. They disregard the principles of
health by their habits of eating, drinking, dressing, and working.
Their transgression of nature's laws produces the sure
result; and when sickness comes upon them, many do not
credit their suffering to the true cause, but murmur against
God because of their afflictions. But God is not responsible
for the suffering that follows disregard of natural law.
God has endowed us with a certain amount of vital force.
He has also formed us with organs suited to maintain the
various functions of life, and He designs that these organs
shall work together in harmony. If we carefully preserve the
life force, and keep the delicate mechanism of the body in
order, the result is health; but if the vital force is too rapidly
exhausted, the nervous system borrows power for present use
from its resources of strength, and when one organ is injured,
all are affected. Nature bears much abuse without apparent
resistance; she then arouses and makes a determined effort to
remove the effects of the ill-treatment she has suffered. Her
effort to correct these conditions is often manifest in fever and
various other forms of sickness.
Rational Remedies
When the abuse of health is carried so far that sickness
results, the sufferer can often do for himself what no one else
can do for him. The first thing to be done is to ascertain the
true character of the sickness and then go to work intelligently
to remove the cause. If the harmonious working of the
system has become unbalanced by overwork, overeating, or
other irregularities, do not endeavor to adjust the difficulties
by adding a burden of poisonous medicines.
Intemperate eating is often the cause of sickness, and what
nature most needs is to be relieved of the undue burden that
has been placed upon her. In many cases of sickness, the very
best remedy is for the patient to fast for a meal or two, that the
overworked organs of digestion may have an opportunity to
rest. A fruit diet for a few days has often brought great relief
to brain workers. Many times a short period of entire abstinence
from food, followed by simple, moderate eating, has
led to recovery through nature's own recuperative effort. An
abstemious diet for a month or two would convince many
sufferers that the path of self-denial is the path to health.
Rest as a Remedy
Some make themselves sick by overwork. For these, rest,
freedom from care, and a spare diet, are essential to restoration
of health. To those who are brain weary and nervous
because of continual labor and close confinement, a visit to
the country, where they can live a simple, carefree life, coming
in close contact with the things of nature, will be most
helpful. Roaming through the fields and the woods, picking the
flowers, listening to the songs of the birds, will do far more
that any other agency toward their recovery.
In health and in sickness, pure water is one of heaven's
choicest blessings. Its proper use promotes health. It is the
beverage which God provided to quench the thirst of animals
and man. Drunk freely, it helps to supply the necessities of
the system and assists nature to resist disease. The external
application of water is one of the easiest and most satisfactory
ways of regulating the circulation of the blood. A cold or cool
bath is an excellent tonic. Warm baths open the pores and
thus aid in the elimination of impurities. Both warm and
neutral bath soothe the nerves and equalize the circulation.
But many have never learned by experience the beneficial
effects of the proper use of water, and they are afraid of it.
Water treatments are not appreciated as they should be, and
to apply them skillfully requires work that many are unwilling
to perform. But none should feel excused for ignorance
or indifference on this subject. There are many ways in which
water can be applied to relieve pain and check disease. All
should become intelligent in its use in simple home treatments.
Mothers, especially, should know how to care for their
families in both health and sickness.
Action is a law of our being. Every organ of the body has
its appointed work, upon the performance of which its
development and strength depend. The normal action of all
the organs gives strength and vigor, while the tendency of
disuse is toward decay and death. Bind up an arm, even for a
few weeks, then free it from its bands, and you will see that
it is weaker than the one you have been using moderately
during the same time. Inactivity produces the same effect
upon the whole muscular system.
Inactivity is a fruitful cause of disease. Exercise quickens
and equalizes the circulation of the blood, but in idleness the
blood does not circulate freely, and the changes in it, so
necessary to life and health, do not take place. The skin, too,
becomes inactive. Impurities are not expelled as they would
be if the circulation had been quickened by vigorous exercise,
the skin kept in a healthy condition, and the lungs fed with
plenty of pure, fresh air. This state of the system throws a
double burden on the excretory organs, and disease is the
result.
Invalids should not be encourage in inactivity. When
there has been serious overtaxation in any direction, entire rest
for a time will sometimes ward off serious illness; but in the
case of confirmed invalids, it is seldom necessary to suspend
all activity.
Those who have broken down from mental labor should
have rest from wearing thought; but they should not be led
to believe that it is dangerous to use their mental powers at
all. Many are inclined to regard their condition as worse than
it really is. This state of mind is unfavorable to recovery, and
should not be encouraged.
Ministers, teachers, students, and other brain workers
often suffer from illness as the result of severe mental taxation,
unrelieved by physical exercise. What these persons need
is a more active life. Strictly temperate habits, combined with
proper exercise, would ensure both mental and physical vigor,
and would give power of endurance to all brain workers.
Those who have overtaxed their physical powers should
not be encouraged to forgo manual labor entirely. But labor,
to be of the greatest advantage, should be systematic and
agreeable. Outdoor exercise is the best; it should be so planned
as to strengthen by use the organs that have become weakened;
and the heart should be in it; the labor of the hands
should never degenerate into mere drudgery.
When invalids have nothing to occupy their time and
attention, their thoughts become centered upon themselves,
and they grow morbid and irritable. Many times they dwell
upon their bad feelings until they think themselves much
worse than they really are and wholly unable to do anything.
In all these cases well-directed physical exercise would
prove an effective remedial agent. In some cases it is
indispensable to the recovery of health. The will goes with
the labor of the hands; and what these invalids need is to have
the will aroused. When the will is dormant, the imagination
becomes abnormal, and it is impossible to resist disease.
Inactivity is the greatest curse that could come upon most
invalids. Light employment in useful labor, while it does not
tax mind or body, has a happy influence upon both. It
strengthens the muscles, improves the circulation, and gives
the invalid the satisfaction of knowing that he is not wholly
useless in this busy world. He may be able to do but little at
first, but he will soon find his strength increasing, and the
amount of work done can be increased accordingly.
Exercise aids the dyspeptic by giving the digestive organs
a healthy tone. To engage in severe study or violent physical
exercise immediately after eating, hinders the work of
digestion; but a short walk after a meal, with the head erect
and the shoulders back, is a great benefit.
Notwithstanding all that is said and written concerning its
importance, there are still many who neglect physical exercise.
Some grow corpulent because the system is clogged;
others become thin and feeble because their vital powers are
exhausted in disposing of an excess of food. The liver is
burdened in its effort to cleanse the blood of impurities, and
illness is the result.
Those whose habits are sedentary should, when the weather
will permit, exercise in the open air every day, summer or
winter. Walking is preferable to riding or driving, for it
brings more of the muscles into exercise. The lungs are forced
into healthy action, since it is impossible to walk briskly without
inflating them.
Such exercise would in many cases be better for the health
than medicine. Physician often advise their patients to take
an ocean voyage, to go to some mineral spring, or to visit
different places for change of climate, when in most cases if they
would eat temperately, and take cheerful, healthful exercise,
they would recover health and would save time and money.