Part 6

Of sleep for old men.

Intemperance has now converted day to night in the course of the gay, young world; but this needs not, nor should influence those in years. Midnight entertainments are no part of the œconomy of their peaceful lives; and therefore they may come nearer to the course of nature.

The degree of sleep is a material article: and the time of it not less. The old man has been cautioned against the cold air of evenings; and we may now add, that after a light and early supper, and an hour of social conversation with his family and his neighbours, bed will be his best place.

Sleep was intended to recruit nature, and to restore the wasted spirits. This is necessary to all persons; but to the aged most; because they can least bear the waste of them. The passions will disturb all constitutions, but those of old men most of all. Sleep composes these: therefore ’tis of excellent use to them: and they may safely indulge in it longer than the young.

Six hours is as long as a person in the prime of life should sleep; but in age, eight, or even ten, according to the peculiar constitution, may be more proper.

The natural season of sleep is night; and let the old man therefore go to bed in such time, that he may pass these hours of rest without breaking in upon the morning. In general, the most healthful custom for age, is to go to bed at ten; and rise at eight in the morning.

If the mind be hurry’d; or from any other cause the person finds he cannot compose himself to rest soon after going to bed; or get so much sleep during the night; let him still rise at the same time the following day: and the next evening prepare himself thus for better sleep: let him go into a warm bath; and indulge himself with a glass of wine, beyond his ordinary allowance, a little before bed time. This will take off his watchfulness; and he will sink into the most pleasing slumber.

The contrary practice, that of lying in bed in the morning, to make up for want of sleep at night, is every way extremely wrong. As nothing refreshes like seasonable sleep, nothing weakens and dejects a person more than indulging in bed in the day: there is also this farther ill consequence from it, that the person is never sleepy, at the due time of the succeeding evening; and thus what was at first an accident, becomes by indulgence a custom; and is then the more difficult to be conquer’d, and the more hurtful.

The old man who has observed a temperate diet; and has gone to bed regularly at ten o’clock, will naturally wake towards eight. And when he wakes let him get up. He will then be in spirits for the day. If on the contrary he lies dosing, he will get into a weakening sweat. He will then be low spirited during the whole following day; and waking and watchful at night.

On these little circumstances do the health or sickness, the happiness or uneasiness of old persons depend, in a very great measure. We often do not perceive them, or we easily overlook them: let us be for the future more careful. There is no pain in living regularly in old age; and the consequence of it is certain; a longer life, and every day of it more agreeable.

CHAP. X.

Of the particular faults in old mens constitutions.

I hope it will be easy, by the preceding and the following directions, for any man of sense, not vers’d at all in physic, to know the state of his own health precisely: and ’tis a most important knowledge. Hippocrates, who knew physic better than all who have followed him, declares it to be an easy science, tho’ it requires length of time to learn it; and Boerhaave, the Hippocrates of our succeeding times, lectur’d for ever publicly on the simplicity and ease of physic. They perplex themselves who think it difficult: only let the plain considerate man attend to what he feels, and believe what is here told him will result from it; then he may keep his mind at peace, which is a great ingredient in the health of the body: but this full credit is necessary; for the origin of his disorders is often very distant from their apparent effects.

Hitherto we have treated of the condition of persons advanced in years, who are healthy: and the rules we have laid down are for preserving and continuing that state: and he who observes them duly cannot well fail of success.

We now shall consider the several more frequent faults of the constitution at this period of life; and the diseases arising from them.

The old man may be so far his own doctor, as to amend the general distemperature of his body; and often he may prevent those diseases: but if he fall into them, whether by neglect of these cautions, or in spite of their force, let him then call in a physician.

We can advise him how to preserve health when he has it; and how to remedy general disorders, so as to prevent more particular ones; so far as a due regimen may do that: but he is a very ill judge of the human frame, who will pretend to remedy its diseases without a knowledge both of its structure, and of the qualities of remedies: and he would be a bad member of society who gave such advice to any. It were as easy to teach some other art by writing; and as rational to attempt making a watchmaker, or a shipbuilder, by a description of the tools. The whole life of a physician, spent in attention and experience, hardly qualifies him for the undertaking: how then should a few light words give sufficient information?

CHAP. XI.

Of a fulness of blood.

An overfulness of blood naturally brings on a redundance of the other humours: for as they are separated from the blood, they naturally encrease with it in quantity. The one or the other of these excesses may, and naturally will, occasion disorders; much more both.

The old man may know when he has too much blood in his veins from these plain symptoms: his pulse will be full and strong, and somewhat quicker than it should; his complexion will be more florid; and his urine higher coloured. The veins also will be swelled, and his breathing will grow difficult.

The occasion of all this has probably been too high feeding, and too little exercise; therefore the plain method to abate the symptoms, and prevent the mischief which they threaten, is by more motion; and an abstemious diet.

This is plainly the change which should be made: but it must not be too sudden. We have observed before, that all hasty alterations are dangerous: but as this is slowly, let it be also determinately and regularly brought on. If therefore no disease be come on as yet from the fulness, there will not any come during a gradual course of emptying the vessels by this practice. Nature will be relieved in a satisfactory manner; whereas she would have been too violently disturbed by any sudden shock.

The first rule is to retrench one third part from the flesh eaten at dinner, of whatever kind that be. We have advised the abstaining from beef and pork, but in this case mutton should be also let alone, or very rarely eaten; and the dinner being made solely of the tender and young meats in this reduced quantity, the next care must be, that these are always well and thoroughly dress’d. It is a fashion to eat meat almost raw, and doctors have advis’d it; but they would be better physicians for bears and wolves, than men.

Let the person rise an hour before his usual time in a morning; and every day encrease the quantity of exercise a little; but great care must be taken not to go out at improper hours, to endanger getting cold. In getting rid of one evil, let us not run into another. This fulness is a state in which diseases are most easily brought on, and they will be most violent in it. Colds are most dangerous of all, to people in this condition, and therefore are very carefully to be avoided.

The pulse will shew whether or not this method reduces the redundance of blood: if it do not take a visible effect in four days, it will be proper to be blooded. After this the same regimen will probably complete the business; and there will be no need for medicines.

But if all should fail, an addition of the warm bath every other day will probably answer the purpose. In all old mens cases ’tis best to avoid medicines, if it can be done with safety: for they disturb the constitution; and the best guard of their health is quietness.

CHAP. XII.