Читать книгу Old Age Deferred. The causes of old age and its postponement by hygienic and therapeutic measures онлайн

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Matthew Paris,^[98] the historian, in his description of eunuchs and the appearance of early old age, tells us that in 1253 Frederick II, Emperor of Germany, married Isabella, sister of the King of England, and he presented to his wife several Moorish slaves who were eunuchs, for servants, who looked like old masks. Pelikan^[99] also mentions that the whole community of castrated Skopze in Russia, has a withered aspect; and in his book Merschejewski relates that their skin is withered and wrinkled, and that they look worn out, aged, and senile.

Besides provoking senility at an early period, castration or a degenerated condition of the sexual glands, especially in women, is able to produce alterations in organs, which are of great importance to the vitality of individuals, and to a long life, such as the heart, stomach, intestines, and liver. Experienced authorities have noted heart troubles in dysmenorrhœa and amenorrhœa, and also neurosis of the heart with long, lasting alterations of the female sexual glands. Professor Kisch^[100] also noted tachycardia in such conditions. Professor Landau^[101] has very often observed a degeneration of the heart after myoma of the uterus. Lehman and Strassmann, in the Berlin Charité, have seen such a degenerated condition of the heart in 44 per cent. of patients with myomas of the uterus.