"SOLDIER'S HEART."

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2986, 25 January 1917, Page 5

"SOLDIER'S HEART."

STRAIN, OR INFECTION. , Why do soldiers suffer so much from beak; hearts? The phenomenon ■ haß Ceen particularly noticeable during the §' resent war, and a good deal about it as been printed in the medical journals. The doctors'do not agree on the .tfause. Sir James' Barr; <w an article !contributed : to" "American Medicine," jstates his belief that it is duo to overdevelopment of the thyroid gland. Other authorities regard its cause as ■jstrain of the heart muscle. ■ Sir James (Mackenzie and Dr. Robert D. Rudolf, a Canadian military surgeon, believe it ito be due to general instability of the circulation, caused by neurasthenia. All Sgree that the modern methods of warfare are responsible for it. 'Dr. Rudolf Ogives his views in "The Canadian Medacal Association Journal" (September), and thoy are epitomised in an editorial Appearing in "The Medical Record" Pew York, October 28)> 'We read: "Rudolf points out that soldier's heart as witnessed- at the French front, can hardly be due to strain of the heart muscle, to which it nas been largely attributed, for the reason that jtrench warfare does not give rise to strain sufficient to damage a previously healthy ; heart-muscle. On- the ether hand, the strain to which the nenes ,'ars subjected by the mode of warfare in France no doubt has much influence. •All kinds of functional nerve-conditions iare encountered, including nervous instabilities of the circulation. Tho heart iand vessels are .very largely. under the ; jcontrol of the'nervous system, and the l'ate of the pulse is perhaps a better index of the state of this system than anything else. Moreover, as Rudolf points out, when the whole nervous .system is under such tension it will yield, if at all, at its weakest point, and the weakest point varies in di.'l Brent individuals. If a person's circulation is his weakest point, then that is where it is most likely to give way. (Rudolf's conclusions are as follow:— The condition called 'soldier's heart' is not an entity, but includes merely the worst examples of circulatory instability that grades up from the uearly normal to a degree so great that it may completely incapacitate the patient. The ' circulatory instability has often been there ; bofore, and'is merely biought into' prominence or exaggerated by the unusual physical and mental surroundings of a soldier's life. Tho very same icondition occurs, only more rarely, in civil life. In many 'cases the condition (appears to be caused or precipitated by infection, also by nerve-shock or strain." In conclusion, tho writer remarks that tlio question is of very considerable importance, as the irritable heart occurs more or less frequently in civil life. It is, therefore, to he hoped that tho problem will be solved in the near future.