i32 READINGS IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 



5. Go to bed early. Take a nap or at least lie down during the afternoon. When 

 you are asleep or resting, your heart gets extra rest. 



EATING 



Eating big meals taxes the heart, since its work is increased during di- 

 gestion. Also, overeating is the most commoji cause of obesity, and carry- 

 ing around aji extra load of fats puts extra strain on the heart. 



When a person is sick in bed with heart trouble, the physician usually 

 restricts the amount of food and fluid allowed. In all cases, moderation 

 in eating is usually advised both to keep weight down and to lighten the 

 work of the heart. Five or six light meals a day are sometimes better for the 

 heart than three large, heavy meals. In some cases the doctor may prescribe 

 a special diet. There is no one special diet which will apply in all cases. 

 Specific dietary instructions must be provided by the physician to fit the 

 need of each individual. 



SMOKING 



So far as we know now, smoking tobacco does not cause actual heart 

 disease, but excessive smoking may cause disagreeable disturbances of the 

 heart beat, even in healthy people, and aggravate the symptoms in certain 

 types of heart disease. Recent experiments have shown that smoking to- 

 bacco makes the arterioles tighten up, just as they do under emotional 

 stress, and constriction of the arterioles raises the blood pressure. Hence 

 smoking may have a harmful effect in arteriosclerosis and heart disease asso- 

 ciated with arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure. A person with heart 

 trouble or hypertension may feel better if he avoids the use of tobacco, and 

 in some cases the physician may forbid smoking. 



AVOIDING INFECTIONS 



A person whose heart is already handicapped must take care to avoid 

 the added burden and possible risk of further damage imposed by infec- 

 tions, such as colds, sore throats, pneumonia, and infections of the sinuses 

 and teeth. Anyone with heart trouble who develops an acute infection 

 should go to bed and call his doctor. On recovery he will require a longer 

 convalescence and a more gradual return to work than would a person with 

 a normal heart. 



KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THE DOCTOR 



A person with heart trouble must keep in close touch with his doctor. 

 His diet, weight, activity, rest — in short, his way of life — are more im- 

 portant than drugs and require constant medical supervision. Although 

 some forms of heart disease are benefited by medicines, the drugs em- 

 ployed are extremely powerful, and their effect on a particular patient 

 must be checked frequently. 



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