Fat and blood : an essay on the treatment of certain forms of neurasthenia & hysteria / by S. Weir Mitchell.

  • Mitchell, S. Weir (Silas Weir), 1829-1914.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fat and blood : an essay on the treatment of certain forms of neurasthenia & hysteria / by S. Weir Mitchell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of health are not as yet well understood; but, since on great exertion or prolonged mental or moral strain or in low fevers we lose fat rap- idly, it may be taken for granted that each indi- vidual should possess a certain surplus of this readily-lost material. It is the one portion of our body which oomes and goes in large amount. Even thin people have it in some quantity always ready, and, despite the fluctuations, every one has a standard share, which varies at different times of life. The mechanism which limits the storing away of an excess is almost unknown, and we are only aware that some foods and lack of exertion favor growth in fat, while action and lessened diet diminish it; but also we know that while any one can be made to lose weight, there are some persons who cannot be made to gain a pound by any possible device, so that in this, as in other things, to spend is easier than to get; although it is clear that the very thin must cer- tainly live, so to speak, from hand to mouth, and have little for emergencies. Whether fat people possess greater power of resistance as against the fatal wasting of certain maladies or not, does not seem to be known, and I fancy that the popular medical belief is rather opposed to