BREATHING AND VENTILATION.
The respiratory apparatus is truly marvelous in beauty and efficiency.
Medical men complain about nature's way of constructing the alimentary
canal, saying that it is partly superfluous, but no such complaint is
lodged against the lungs and their accessories.
The respiratory system may be likened in form to a well branched tree,
with hollow trunk, limbs and leaves: The trachea is the trunk; the two
bronchi, one going to the right side and the other to the left side, are
the main branches; the bronchioles and their subdivisions are the
smaller branches and twigs; the air cells are the leaves.
The trachea and bronchi are tubes, furnished with cartilaginous rings to
keep them from collapsing. They are lined with mucous membrane. The
bronchi give off branches, which in turn divide and subdivide, until
they become very fine. Upon the last subdivisions are clustered many
cells or vesicles. These are the air cells and here the exchange takes
place, the blood giving up carbonic acid gas and receiving from the
inspired air a supply of oxygen. This exchange takes place through a
very thin layer of mucous membrane, the air being on one side and the
blood capillaries on the other side.
The whole respiratory tract is lined with mucous membrane. This membrane
is ciliated, that is, it is studded with tiny hairlike projections,
extending into the air passages. These are constantly in motion, much
like the grain in a field when the wind is gently blowing. Their
function is to prevent the entry of foreign particles into the air
cells, for their propulsive motion is away from the lungs, toward the
external air passages.
In some of the large cities where the atmospheric conditions are
unfavorable and the air is laden with dust and smoke, the cilia are
unable to prevent the entrance of all the fine foreign particles in the
air. Then these particles irritate the mucous membrane, which secretes
enough mucus to imprison the intruders. Consequently there is
occasionally expulsion of gray or black mucus, which should alarm no one
under the circumstances, if feeling well. Normally the mucous membrane
secretes only enough mucus to lubricate itself, and when there is much
expulsion of mucus it means that either the respiratory or the digestive
system, or both, are being abused. At such times the sufferer should
take an inventory of his habits and correct them.
The air cells are made up of very thin membrane. So great is their
surface that if they could be flattened out they would form a sheet of
about 2,000 square feet. We can not explain satisfactorily why it is
that through their walls there is an exchange of gases, nor how the
respiratory system can act so effectively both as an exhaust of harmful
matter and a supply of necessary elements. The distribution of the blood
capillaries, so tiny that the naked eye can not make them out, is
wonderful. Under the microscope they look like patterns of delicate,
complex, beautiful lace.
The lungs are supplied with more blood than any other, part of the body.
A small part of it is for the nourishment of the lung structure, but
most of it comes to be purified. After the blood has traveled to various
parts of the body to perform its work as a carrier of food, and oxygen
and gatherer of waste, it returns to the heart and from the heart it is
sent to the lungs. There it gives up its carbonic acid gas and receives
a supply of oxygen. Then it returns to the heart again and once more it
is sent to all parts of the body to distribute the vital element,
oxygen.
The lungs give off watery vapor, a little animal matter and considerable
heat, but their chief function is to exchange the carbonic acid gas of
the blood for the oxygen of the air. When the fats, sugars and starches,
in their modified form, are burned in the body to produce heat and
energy, carbonic acid gas and water are formed. The gas is taken up by
the blood stream, which is being deprived of its oxygen at the same
time. This exchange turns the blood from red into a bluish tinge. The
red color is due to the union of oxygen with the iron in the blood
corpuscles, forming rust, roughly speaking.
The fine adjustment that exists in nature can be seen by taking into
consideration that animals give off carbon dioxide and breathe in
oxygen, while vegetation exhales oxygen and inhales carbon dioxide. In
other words, animal life makes conditions favorable for plant growth,
and vegetation makes possible the existence of animals.
An animal of the higher class can live several days without water,
several weeks without food, but only a very few minutes without oxygen.
When the blood becomes surcharged with carbonic acid gas, and oxygen is
refused admittance to the lungs, life ceases in about five or six
minutes. From this it can easily be seen how important it is to have a
proper supply of oxygen. Acute deprivation of this element is
immediately fatal, and chronic deprivation of a good supply helps to
produce early deterioration and premature death. The lungs can easily be
kept in good condition, and when we ponder on the beautiful and
effective way in which nature has equipped us with a respiratory
apparatus and an inexhaustible store of oxygen, surely we must
understand the folly of not helping ourselves to what is so vital, yet
absolutely free.
Wrong eating and impure air are largely responsible for all kinds of
respiratory troubles, from a simple cold to the most aggravated form of
pulmonary tuberculosis. Exercise and deep breathing will to a great
extent antidote overeating, but there is a limit beyond which the lungs
refuse to tolerate this form of abuse.
Experiments have shown that if the carbonic acid gas thrown off daily by
an adult male were solidified, it would amount to about seven ounces of
solid carbon, which comes from fats, sugars and starches that are burned
in the body. It is well to remember that there are various forms of
burning or combustion. Rapid combustion is exemplified in stoves and
furnaces, where the carbon of coal or wood rapidly and violently unites
with oxygen. Slow combustion takes place in the rotting of wood, the
rusting of iron and steel and the union of oxygen with organic matter in
animal bodies. Both processes are the same, varying only in rapidity and
intensity.
People who daily give off seven ounces of carbon are overworking their
bodies. They take in too much food and consequently force too great
combustion. This forcing has evil effects on the system, for under
forced combustion the body is not able to clean itself thoroughly. Some
of the soot remains in the flues (the blood-vessels) and is deposited in
the various parts of the engine (the body). Result: Hardening, which
means loss of elasticity and aging of the body. Aging of the body
results in deterioration of the mind. Proper breathing is fine, but
unless it is also accompanied by proper eating it does not bring the
best results.
The atmospheric air contains about four parts of carbonic acid gas to
10,000 parts of air. The exhaled air becomes quite heavily charged with
this gas, about 400 to 500 parts in 10,000. It does not take long before
the air in a closed, occupied room is so heavily charged with this gas
and so poor in oxygen that its constant rebreathing is detrimental. The
blood stream becomes poisoned, which immediately depresses the physical
and mental powers. Warning is often given by a feeling of languor and
perhaps a slight headache. People accustom themselves to impure air so
that they apparently feel no bad effects, but this is always at the
expense of health. The senses may be blunted, but the evil results
always follow. To keep a house sealed up as tightly as possible in order
to keep it warm saves fuel bills, but the resultant bodily deterioration
and disease cause enough discomfort and result in doctor bills which
more than offset this saving. It is poor economy.
A constant supply of the purest air obtainable must be furnished to the
lungs; otherwise the blood becomes so laden with poison that health, in
its best and truest sense, is impossible.
The air should be inhaled through the nose. It does not matter much how
it is exhaled. The nose is so constructed that it fits the air for the
lungs. The inspired air is often too dry, dusty and cold. The normal
nose remedies all these defects. The mucous membrane in the nasal
passages contains cilia, which catch the dust. The nasal passages are
very tortuous so that during its journey through them the air is warmed
and takes up moisture.
Habitual mouth breathing is one of the causes of the hardening and
toughening of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, for the
mouth does not arrest the irritating substances floating in the air, nor
does it sufficiently warm and moisten the inspired air. Irritation
produces inflammation and this in turn causes thickening of the
membranes. Then it is very easy to acquire some troublesome affliction
such as asthma. Very cold air is irritating, but the passage through the
nose warms it sufficiently.
The evil results of mouth breathing are well seen in children, in whom
it raises the roof of the mouth and brings the lateral teeth too close
together. Then the dentists have to correct the deformity and the
children are forced to suffer protracted inconvenience. This mouth
breathing is mostly due to wrong feeding, especially overfeeding, which
causes swelling of the mucous membrane, thus impeding the intake of the
air through the nose and forcing it through the mouth. The chief
curative measure is obvious. Cut down the child's food supply and give
food of better quality. Remember that children should not be fat.
Normal breathing is rhythmical, with a slight rise of the abdomen and
chest during inspiration and a slight falling during expiration. Watch a
sleeping baby, and you will understand what is meant. The ratio of
breathing to the beating of the heart is about one to four or five.
Whatever accelerates the heart causes more rapid breathing and vice
versa. Breathing is practically automatic, and were we living under
natural conditions we should need to pay no attention to it, but
inasmuch as our mode of life prevents the full use of the lungs a little
intelligent consideration is necessary to attain full efficiency.
The body should be left as free as possible by the clothes and
especially is this true of the chest and waist line. Women sin much
against themselves in this respect. Most of them find it absolutely
necessary for their mental welfare to constrict the lower part of the
chest and the waist line a great part of the time, for really it would
not do to be out of fashion. The statue of Venus de Milo is generally
considered to represent the highest form of female beauty and perfection
in sculptural art. If living women would consent to remain beautiful,
instead of being slaves to fashion, it would be much better for
themselves and for the race. A corseted woman can not breathe properly,
even if she can introduce her hand between the body and her corset to
prove that she is not constricted. The natural curves of women are more
graceful than those produced by the corset. It would be an easy matter
to give the breasts sufficient support, if they need support, without
constricting the body, and then take enough exercise to keep the waist
and abdomen firm and in shape to accord with a normal sense of what is
beautiful and proper.
Woman does right in being as good looking as possible, and it would do
man no harm to imitate her in this, for truly, "Beauty is its own excuse
for being." But beauty and fashion seldom go hand in hand. Look at the
modes which were the fashion, and you will be compelled to say that many
of them are offensive to people of good taste. American women should
cease imitating the caprice of the women of the underworld of Paris.
There are indications that women are liberating themselves somewhat from
the chains of fashions, as well as from other ridiculous things, so let
us hope that they will soon be brave enough to look as beautiful as
nature allows them to be, both in face and figure.
The lungs, like every other part of the body, become weakened when not
used. The chest cavity enlarges during inspiration, but this enlargement
is prevented if there is constriction of the lower ribs and the waist.
The normal breathing is abdominal. Such breathing is health-imparting.
It massages the liver gently with each breath and is mildly tonic to the
stomach and the bowels. It truly gives internal exercise. It helps to
prevent constipation.
Shallow breathing causes degeneration of lung tissue, and indirectly
degeneration of every tissue in the body, for it deprives the blood of
enough oxygen to maintain health. It also prevents the internal exercise
of the abdominal organs, which is a necessary activity of the normal
organism. Shallow breathers only use the upper parts of the lungs. It is
not to be wondered at that the lower parts easily degenerate. In
pneumonia, for instance, the lower part is usually first affected, and
in tuberculosis one often can get the physical indications in the lower
part of the lungs posteriorly before they can be found any other place.
The upper parts have to be used and consequently they get more exercise
and more blood and hence become more resistant. It is well known that
when the upper part of the lungs become affected the disease is very
grave.
Men, as well as women, are guilty of shallow breathing. Many men are
very inactive and their breathing becomes sluggish. This can be remedied
by taking vigorous exercise and a few breathing exercises. Because
abdominal breathing is the correct way, some physical culturists, who
mix the so-called New Thought with their system, advocate exercising and
concentrating the mind on the abdomen at the same time. This is
unnecessary, for the proper exercises and the right attitude will cause
abdominal breathing without giving the abdomen special thought.
Man was evidently intended to earn his food through physical exertion
and exercise, and so long as he did this the lungs were compelled to
expand. A few running exercises or hill or mountain climbs will suffice
to prove the truth of this statement. However, now that man can ride on
a street car and earn, or at least get, his daily bread by sitting in an
office, it is necessary to exercise a little in order to get good
results. The farmer who sits crouched up on a plow, mower or binder also
fails to use his lungs, but if he gets out and pitches hay or bundles of
grain, he is sure to get what oxygen he needs.
Everyone should get into the habit of breathing deeply several times a
day. Upon rising in the morning, go to the open window or out of doors
and take at least a dozen slow, deep breaths, inhaling slowly, holding
the air in the lungs a few moments and exhaling slowly. This should be
repeated noon and night. Every time when one is in the fresh air, it is
well to take a few full breaths. By and by the proper breathing will
become a habit, to the great benefit of one's health.
There are many breathing exercises, but every intelligent being can make
his own exercises, so I shall describe but one. Have the hands hanging
at the sides, palms facing each other. Inhale slowly and at the same
time bring the arms, which are to be held straight, forward and upward,
or outward and upward, carrying them as far up and back over the head as
possible. The arm motion is also to be slow. About the time the arms are
in the last position a full inspiration has been taken. Hold the
position of the arms and the breath a few seconds and then slowly exhale
and slowly bring the arms back to the first position. Repeat ten or
twelve times. If while one is inhaling and raising the arms, one also
slowly rises on the toes and slowly resumes a natural foot position
while exhaling, the exercise will be even better.
Hollow-chested young people can attain a good lung capacity and good
chest contour in a very reasonable time. Persistence in proper breathing
and proper exercise will have remarkable results in even two or three
months, and at the same time nature will be painting roses on pallid
cheeks. It is easy to increase the chest expansion several inches. Those
who expand less than three and one-half inches should not be satisfied
until they have gone beyond this mark. Elderly people can also increase
their chest expansion and breathing capacity, but it takes more time,
for with the years the chest cartilages have a tendency to harden and
even to ossify. The less breathing the sooner the ossification comes.
Many people are afraid of night air, for which there is no reason. The
absence of sunshine at night does no more harm than it does on cloudy
days. During the night, of all times, fresh air is needed, for less is
used, and what little is breathed should be of as good quality as
circumstances permit. Open the windows wide enough to have the air
constantly changing in the bedroom. During the winter it will be
necessary to put additional clothes on the bed, for no one can obtain
the best of slumbers while chilled. Some may find it a better plan to
use artificial heat in the foot of the bed. At any rate, during cold
weather better covering is required for the legs and for the feet than
for any other part of the body. People with good resistance can sleep in
a draught without the least harm, but ordinary people should not sleep
in a draught. It is easy to use screens so that the wind does not blow
upon the face. If the air is kept stirring in the chamber the sleeper
gets enough without being in a current.
Some are in the habit of closing their bedroom windows and doors at
night and opening them for a thorough airing during the day. If the
bedrooms must be closed, close them during the day and open them wide at
night, for that is when the pure air is needed. It does not make much
difference whether they are open or closed while being unoccupied. It is
actually sickening to enter some bedrooms and be compelled to breathe
the foul air.
When people are ill the rooms should have fresh air entering at all
times. Sick people give off more poisons than do those in good health
and they need the oxygen to burn up the deposits in the system.
An early morning stroll while most people are in bed is very
instructive. It will be found that some houses are shut up as tightly as
possible and that only a few are properly ventilated. A person who
insists on keeping his window open in winter is often looked upon as a
freak. What is the result of this close housing? The first result is
that the blood is unable to obtain the required amount of oxygen and is
poisoned by the rebreathing of the air in the room. In the morning the
sleeper wakes feeling only half rested, and it takes a cup of coffee or
something else to produce complete awakening. The evil results are
cumulative, and after a while the bad habit of breathing impure air at
night will be a great factor in building disease of some kind.
One reason why some are so afraid of fresh air, especially at night, is
that they become so autotoxemic through bad habits, especially improper
eating habits, that a slight draught causes them to sneeze and often
catch cold and they believe that the fresh air causes the irritation.
This is not so. The irritability comes from within, not from without.
After becoming accustomed to good ventilation at night it is almost
impossible to enter into restful slumbers in a stuffy room.
Savages are singularly free from respiratory diseases, and the reason is
without doubt that they do not house themselves closely. In some parts
of the world they fear to let civilized men enter their abodes, for they
may bring respiratory diseases.
Not only the homes, but public places, such as street cars, theaters,
schools and churches are too often poorly ventilated. Sleeping, or
rather dozing in church is so common that it is a matter of jest. My
experience has been that drowsiness comes not from the dullness of
sermons, but from the impossibility of getting a breath of good air in
many churches.
Please remember that exhaled air is excretory matter, and that it is
both unclean and unwholesome to consume it over and over again.
Draughts do not cause colds. Cold air does not cause colds. Wet clothes
do not cause colds: These things may be minor contributory factors, but
the body must be in poor condition before one can catch cold. Colds are
generally caught at the table. Lack of fresh air also helps to produce
colds, as well as other diseases.
The tendency in our country is to heat buildings too much. Europeans are
both surprised and uncomfortable when they first enter our dwellings or
public meeting places. The temperature in a dwelling should not be
forced above seventy degrees Fahrenheit by means of artificial heating.
The temperature required depends very much upon one's mental attitude
and habits. Those who take enough exercise have good circulation of the
blood in the extremities, and therefore do not need so much artificial
heat. The best heating is from within.