Common sense, or, the Abernethian code of health and longevity : founded on the principles and practice of John Abernethy.

Date:
1830
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Common sense, or, the Abernethian code of health and longevity : founded on the principles and practice of John Abernethy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    an inactive life, no longer suffer from nervous irritation, or require aperient medicines, wiien they use exercise to a degree that would be excessive in ordinary constitutions. The inference which I draw from cases of this description is, that nervous tranquillity is restored i n conse- quence of the superfluous energy being exhausted by its proper channels —the museles. When, on the contrary, the nervous system is weak and irritable, exercise seems equally beneficial; but caution is here requi- site as to the degree in which it should be taken. A weak and irri- table patient may not be able to walk more than half a mile without nearly fainting with fatigue on the first day of the experiment; but by persevering in the effort, he will be able to undergo considerable mus- cular exertion without weariness. Does not this imply a considerable increase of bodily strength, and is not the acquisition of strength the chief desideratum in the cure of many disorders ? The nervous irri- tability also, when dependent on weakness alone, will proportionately diminish with its cause. In the latter case the nervous energy seems to be augmented in consequence of our increasing the demand for it. I am induced to make these observations from a belief that exercise is not employed as a medical agent to the extent that its efficacy seems to deserve. Attention to diet, air, exercise, and mental tran- quillity, are more decidedly beneficial than medicines. Surgeons in London meet with frequent and convincing instances of the efficacy of pure air. Patients under the irritation of a local disease, who scarcely eat or sleep fn town, recover their appetite, digestion, and sleep, so suddenly on their removal into the country, as to leave no room for doubting, that the change of air has produced this beneficial alteration in their health. I would prescribe to my patients the following rules: They should rise early when their powers have been refreshed by sleep, and actively exercise themselves in the open air till they felt a slight de- gree of fatigue j they should rest one hour, then breakfast, and rest three hours, in order that the energies of the constitution should be concentred in the work of digestion ; then take active exercise again for two hours, rest one; then taking their dinner they should rest for three hours, exercise two, rest one, and take their third slight meal. I do not allow the state of the weather to be urged as an objection to the prosecution of measures so essential to health, since it is in the power of every one to protect themselves from cold by clothing, and the exercise may be taken in a chamber with the windows thrown open, by walking actively backwards and forwards as sailors do on ship-board. I also caution patients against sleeping too much; wak- ing from sleep indicates that the bodily powers are refreshed : many persons upon first awaking feel alert and disposed to rise, when upon taking a second sleep ihey become lethargic, can scarcely be awakened, and feel oppressed and indisposed to exertion for some time after they have arisen. When the disorders which have been the subject of this paper, have been long continued, they do not admit of a speedy cure,'' The foregoing are the dictates of Mr. Abernethy, to which he refers his patients, and without entering into any unnecessary details, shall merely observe, that his peculiarities, though they may not