Excerpt: ...gland (chiefly occurring in certain high mountainous localities, such as Switzerland), is not so strongly dysgenic as is exophthalmic goiter. Still, goiter patients are not good matrimonial risks. Of course, there are always exceptions. I know an exophthalmic goiter woman who brought up four children, and very good, healthy children they are. 208 But in writing we can only speak of the average and not of exceptions. Obesity Obesity, or excessive stoutness, is an undue development of fat throughout the body. That ...
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Excerpt: ...gland (chiefly occurring in certain high mountainous localities, such as Switzerland), is not so strongly dysgenic as is exophthalmic goiter. Still, goiter patients are not good matrimonial risks. Of course, there are always exceptions. I know an exophthalmic goiter woman who brought up four children, and very good, healthy children they are. 208 But in writing we can only speak of the average and not of exceptions. Obesity Obesity, or excessive stoutness, is an undue development of fat throughout the body. That it is hereditary, that it runs in families, there is no question whatsoever. And, while with great care as to the diet and by proper exercise, obesity may, as a rule, be avoided in those predisposed, it none the less often will develop in spite of all measures taken against it. Some very obese people eat only one-half or less of what many thin people do; but in the former, everything seems to run to fat. Obesity must be considered a dysgenic factor. The obese are subject to heart disease, asthma, apoplexy, gallstones, gout, diabetes, constipation; they withstand pneumonia and acute infectious diseases poorly, and they are bad risks when they have to undergo major surgical operations. They also, as a rule, are readily fatigued by physical and mental work. (As to the latter, there are remarkable exceptions. Some very obese people can turn out a great amount of work, and are almost indefatigable in their constant activity.) Each case should be considered individually, and with reference to the respective family history. If the obese person 209 comes from a healthy, long lived family and shows no circulatory disturbances, no strong objections can be raised to him or to her. But, as a general proposition, it must be laid down that obesity is a dysgenic factor. But bear in mind that obesity and stoutness are not synonymous terms. Arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis means hardening of the arteries. All men over fifty are beginning to develop some...
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