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Show Heart Symptoms On Slight Effort '"TWO things can cause the heart rate to increase while you are at rest: holding your breath or getting get-ting nervous about the increase in the rate. Sometimes you find that after an effort that is really not severe-parking severe-parking your car, or other effort you are breathless and wonder If your heart Is failing. The cause of your breathlessness is not due to the mental and physical effort of parking park-ing your car or lifting an object but because you "held your breath," breathed in no air and did . not breathe out the already "used" air in your lungs. Army medical officers are finding that a number of recruits are afflicted afflict-ed with "heart" symptoms on slight effort. These symptoms are called "effort syndrome" (combination of symptoms) which consists of nervousness, nerv-ousness, exhaustion, discomfort in left side of chest, palpitation, giddiness giddi-ness and breathlessness on exertion. Most of these cases are due to nervousness nerv-ousness and the balance due to lack of oxygen. Middle and long distance runners and swimmers learn to regulate their efforts so that so many strokes or strides are done between breaths. A 100-yard runner or swimmer takes a deep brealn before his race and takes no further breaths till the race Is over or the distance covered. The point then is that while the pulse rate should, under ordinary circumstances, be at 72 to 84 at rest, holding your breath or nervousness nerv-ousness can send it up to over 100 beats. Similarly, breathlessness can be due to nervousness and holding the breath. A cold In the head or eating too much acid food can likewise cause an increased heart rate and breathlessness breath-lessness due to inability to get enough oxygen to the lungs, or too much oxygen is being used to burn up acid foods. a a QUESTION BOX Q I am worried about my weight. Everything I eat seems to make me fat I am not a heavy eater. I eat nothing but fruit until dinner In the evening. A. Your best plan would be to eat a good breakfast and a light lunch and dinner. You can thus work off the breakfast during the day. Taking the big meal at night gives you no chance to work off the fat. Try this for a month and cut down on all your liquids. |