The General Problem of Keeping Well : Part 7

Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools
by Francis M. Walters

(Page 29 of 30)

As with alcohol, tobacco is conveniently used to promote sociability among men, a fact which has much to do with its very general use. If it could be limited to social purposes, it would likely do little harm, but the habit, once started, is continued without reference to sociability - a matter of selfish indulgence. In fact, one effect of tobacco is to cause the user to become less sensitive to the rights of others, this being evidenced by smokers who do not hesitate to make rooms and public halls almost unbearable to those unaccustomed to tobacco.

Counts against Nicotine. - The physiological objections to the use of tobacco, as already stated, are the following: -

1. The use of tobacco before one reaches maturity stunts the growth. The boy who uses it cannot develop into so strong and capable a man as he would by leaving it alone.

2. Tobacco injures the heart.

3. Tobacco injures the air passages, especially when inhalation is practiced.

4. Tobacco injures the nervous system and by this means interferes in a general way with the bodily processes. For the same reason it interferes with mental and moral development, the cigarette being a chief cause of criminal tendencies in boys.

5. In some cases tobacco injures the vision.

6. The tobacco habit is expensive and is productive of no good results.

Tobacco and the Rising Generation. - The problem of limiting the use of tobacco to the point where it would do slight harm, in comparison to what it now does, would be solved if those under twenty years of age could be kept from using it. But few would then acquire the habit, and those who did would not be so seriously injured. In our own country it lies within the province of the home and the school to bring about this result. The fact that parents use tobacco is no reason why the boys should also indulge. The decided difference in effects upon the young and upon the mature makes this point very clear. Laws protecting boys from the evil effects of tobacco, not only cigarettes, but other forms as well, are both just and necessary.

Social Custom and the Caffeine Habit. - By suitable processes a white, crystalline solid, easily soluble in water, can be separated from the leaves of tea, and from the berry of the coffee plant. This is the drug caffeine, the substance which gives to tea and coffee their stimulating properties, but not their agreeable flavors. Less injurious, on the whole, than either alcohol or tobacco, caffeine has come into general use in much the same way as these substances. In a sense, however, caffeine is more deceptive than either alcohol or nicotine, because the usual mode of preparing tea and coffee gives them the appearance of real foods. The housewife who would feel condemned in purchasing caffeine put up as a drug somehow feels justified when she extracts it from plant products in the regular preparation of the meal.

Counts against Caffeine. - People of vigorous constitutions and of active outdoor habits are injured but slightly, if at all, by either tea or coffee when these are used in moderation. As already stated, they do harm when used to excess and, in special cases, in very small amounts, in one of the following ways: -

1. By stimulating the nervous system, thereby causing nervousness and insomnia and interfering with vital organs.

2. By introducing a waste which forms uric acid into the body, thereby throwing an extra burden upon the organs of elimination.

In this connection it may also be stated that there appears to be little, if any, real advantage to the healthy body from the use of either tea or coffee, beyond that of temporary stimulation and the gratification of an appetite artificially acquired. Hence the large sums of money expended for these substances in this country yield no adequate returns.

Caffeine Restrictions Necessary. - Though with many the cup of tea or coffee at breakfast does no harm, but gives an added pleasure to the meal, there is no question but that the use of caffeine beverages should be greatly curtailed. Children should not be permitted to drink either tea or coffee. Brain workers and indoor dwellers generally should use these substances very sparingly, and people having a tendency to indigestion, nervousness, constipation, rheumatism, or diseases of the heart, kidneys, or liver frequently find it best to omit them altogether.

Caffeine and "Soft" Drinks. - Recently the practice has sprung up of using caffeine as a constituent of certain drinks supplied at the soda-water fountains. Such drinks usually purport to be made from the kola nut, which contains caffeine, or to consist of extracts from the plants which yield cocoa and chocolate, when in reality they consist of artificial mixtures to which caffeine has been added. Those using these beverages are stimulated as they would be by tea or coffee and soon acquire the habit which makes them regular customers. Chief harm comes to the children who frequent the soda fountains and to those who, on account of constitutional tendencies, should avoid caffeine in all of its forms. It is generally understood that the so-called "soft" drinks are harmless. If this reputation is to be maintained, those containing caffeine must be excluded.

Danger from Certain Medicinal Agents. - Among the most valuable drugs used by the physician in the treatment of disease are several, such as morphine, chloral, and cocaine, which possess the habit-forming characteristic. Sad indeed are the cases in which some pernicious drug habit has been formed through the reckless administration of such medicines. Even the taking of such a drug as quinine as a "tonic" tends to develop a dependence upon stimulation which is equivalent to a habit. In the same list come also the drugs that are taken to relieve a frequently recurring indisposition, such as headache. The so-called headache powders are most harmful in their effects upon the nervous system and should be carefully avoided.

Stimulants in Health Unnecessary. - Stimulants have been aptly styled "the whips of the nervous system." The healthy nervous system, however, like the well-disposed and well-fed horse, needs no whip, but is irritated and harmed through its use. Even in periods of weakness and depression, stimulants are usually not called for, but a more perfect provision for hygienic needs. Rest, relaxation, sleep, proper food, and avoidance of irritation, not stimulants, are the great restorers of the nervous system. A surplus of nervous energy gained through natural means is more conducive to health and effective work than any result that can possibly be secured through drugs. Then withal comes the satisfaction of knowing that one has the expression of his real self in the way in which he feels and in what he accomplishes - not a "whipped-up" condition that must be paid for by weakness or suffering later on.

D.C. Heath and Co. - Publishers
Original copyright 1909