CHAPTER III - CARE OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

Abstract

This chapter reviews the different aspects involved in caring for the circulatory system. To begin with, the heart as a circulatory organ is finished. In course of time, usually many years, the recognition and treatment of minor lesions of on the cardiac pump induces additional, but quite separate, burdens on the circulation with the result that the cardiac lesions are regarded as being progressive. Consequently, it is the neglect of the circulation that is directly the cause of death of the ordinary worn-out old person. By far, the most symptoms of the so-called heart disease and the progression of them are due to the defect in the returning of blood, leading to the conclusion that cardiac diseases occur not necessarily due to the failure of blood return through inadequate respiratory activity—the respiratory pump. The circulatory system is constructed to get the blood at low, steady pressure in the capillaries, the thin-walled tubes that bring the blood to the living cell just being separated by a very thin cell, somewhat plate-shaped. Furthermore, there are many things that depress the return of blood to the heart, for example, exercise too soon after a meal. Another factor that depresses the respiratory return of blood to the heart is the atony of the abdominal muscles seen in the elderly and the old. Thus, the care of the heart machine requires the care for the respiratory mechanisms. Breathing exercises should, therefore, be done correctly and in routine. The effect of posture on respiration is readily observed in the streets in the way in which the older men walk: Their subconscious mind does know that when they walk in that position their circulation is improved and digestive organs are toned up.