Adipose tissue

“ Adiposity or obesity occurs when we have an excessive amount of fat stored in the normal connective-tissue areas of adipose tissue. It may be caused by various conditions, e.g. over nutrition with lack of muscular energy, beer-drinking, castration, lactation, disturbed metabolism, some forms of insanity, and may follow on some fevers. ”

“ Fats and oils are but little changed during digestion. The fat is divided into little globules by the action of the pancreatic juice and other digestive elements, and is absorbed by the system. Fat forms the chief material in adipose tissue, a fatty layer lying beneath the skin, which keeps the warmth in the body, and is re-absorbed into the blood, keeping up heat and activity, and preserving other tissues during abstinence from food. ”

“ Limiting the Fluids in Obesity.—Thus it is seen that when the intake of fluids is limited, the body will call upon that surplus which is stored in every nerve, tissue, and fluid throughout the entire organism to assist in the necessary work of the organs, thus reducing the body weight just that much.
Exercise.—The athlete who is overweight, due to adipose tissue, increases his exercise at times, even adding to the weight of his clothing, causing an increased energy output, profuse perspiration, etc., all of which causes the body to use its surplus fuel in the form of the stored fat. ”

“ This has been shown not to be due to any increase in sugar manufacture, but to an inability of the body to oxidize the sugar. In diabetes the excess of sugar then is removed by the kidneys. In obesity the fat is not removed, but accumulates in adipose tissue. ”

“ The deposition of fat in such a case will be far less injurious to the system than an excessive heat-supply would be. But when only a just amount of heat-giving food is taken, and in place of fulfilling its just office this food is converted into adipose tissue, it becomes necessary to inquire into the cause of the mischief. ”

“ Only a few fat-cells are interspersed among the bands of connective tissue or penetrate between the primitive bundles. The fatty infiltration tends constantly to increase, apparently by the same process as governs the growth of normal adipose tissue—namely, the deposit of fat in connective-tissue cells; and ultimately not only muscular fibre, but the hyperplastic connective tissue, is concealed in a yellowish glistening mass indistinguishable from a lipoma.59 ”

“ Dietetic Treatment is most important. It constitutes the only rational method of ridding the body of its surplus fat. To do this it is necessary to regulate the diet both as to quantity and type. Fat-forming foods are those which the body utilizes most easily for the production and storage of fat. Any food, no matter whether it is fat-forming or [Pg 447] not, if taken greatly in excess of the needs of the body, will be stored as adipose tissue. ”

“ Loss of elasticity of the skin is a common change. That nutrition is seriously interfered with is seen by this alteration, the loss of adipose tissue, the ill-balanced circulation, giving at one time coldness and paleness, at another flushing and undue warmth, and the variable secretion. A plump and well nourished person who commences the use [40] of morphia loses those outlines of health caused by the proper development of the muscular system and normal distribution of fat beneath the skin. ”

“ Fatty infiltration consists of a true hypertrophy of the fat-tissue normally existing in the gland, or of an increase and extension into the gland of the peripancreatic adipose tissue. Yellow bands and masses of fat-tissue appear between the acini, and by constantly increasing in size lead gradually to a total atrophy of the cells of the acini. The canal of Wirsung contains a fatty liquid. These changes are found associated with fatty liver, heart, and omentum, in drunkards especially. ”

“ The clay-colored, flabby, obese, anemic victims may retain their worthless adipose tissue; but they suffer quite as keenly as if they had lost it—from the fact that this tissue is impregnated with poison and filled with gas, and from the further fact that this abnormal tissue presses on the vital organs here and there as the victim wheezes or puffs along on his road through existence. ”

“ Where the weight is only from ten to fifteen pounds above normal, a substantial reduction can be made by merely balancing the diet, but where the accumulation [497] of adipose tissue has become chronic, and the body has taken on from twenty to fifty pounds, or more, above normal, then a diet composed largely of non-acid fruits and fresh vegetables should be adopted for a period of from twenty to thirty days. ”

“ Thus, experiments have shown84 that in long periods of fasting, adipose tissue may be consumed to the extent of 97 per cent of the total amount present, while the heart and nervous tissue will not lose over 3 per cent of their tissue substance. ”

“ Eating over-large portions of rich desserts, fatty foods and starchy products causes these foods to turn into a fatty tissue, and then be stored in the body as adipose tissue. So, in order to get good results, the person who wishes to reduce should learn to thoroughly chew all foods. ”

“ Weight for weight, fat furnishes twice as much heat as the carbohydrates, and in bulk the difference is even more striking; for example (about) two tablespoonfuls of sugar are required to produce 100 calories, whereas one scant tablespoonful of olive oil will produce a like number of heat units. As a source of supply for reserve energy in the body, fat is most valuable. This reserve fuel is stored in the form of adipose tissues underlying the skin and surrounding the vital organs, lending contour to the form and protecting the organs from jars and shocks. ”

“ The deficiency in the albuminous constituents of the body also gives rise to a rapid and extensive deposit of fat, the power for the combustion of the fats absorbed from the food being insufficient. An auxiliary factor in producing obesity in such anæmic girls is their disinclination to physical exercise, dependent on the speedy onset of sensations of fatigue. The long-continued repose of the muscles, and the remaining almost continuously in close rooms insufficiently supplied with oxygen, also result in the withdrawal from the blood of the circulating fat and its deposit as adipose tissue. ”

“ Men are less subject to obesity than women. The areolar tissue which contains the fat is firmer in the male than in the female, and is not so readily distended by the accumulation of adipose matter. Corpulence is usually developed after the body has acquired its full growth, but childhood is not exempt. ”

“ Naturally, there is a deposition of fat in the cellular tissues, which gives the particular appearance which the French call embonpoint, which simply means that the nutrition which has hitherto gone to the development of the figure is now em­ployed in the accumulation of adipose matter beneath the cuticle. When, however, the overtaxed membrane gives way, the tissues relax, and the muscular fibres losing their tenacity, fail to maintain their normal position. ”

“ The change consists in an excess of liquid, or, more commonly, in a deposit of fat. This fatty matter is not an increase of the organ, but it takes the place of a part of its fiber, thus weakening the structure, and reducing the power of the tissue to perform its function. Almost everywhere in the body we thus find cells—muscle cells, liver cells, nerve cells, as the case may be—changing one by one, under the influence of this potent disorganizer, into unhealthy fat cells. ”

“ It has been stated, however, that alimentary fat seems to preserve from destruction the fat of the organism which arises from other sources. Be this as it may, it is a fact that the pre-existence of fat furthers the accumulation of more adipose; or in other words, fat induces fattening! ”

“ If much fat is consumed in the daily food this fat in the blood will be oxidized before the fat stored about the muscular tissue. The scientific reduction of weight, therefore, lies in the regulation of the supply of starches, sugars, and fats consumed, and, the oxidation of more of these substances through an increase in the daily exercise. ”

“ Exercise in the open air favors the excretion of waste matters which otherwise would be deposited in the cellular tissues. The fatty degeneration so much admired in infancy, aids in the production of emaciation and consumption at adult age.
A fat person, at whatever period of life, has not a sound tissue in his body; not only is the entire muscular system degenerated with the fatty particles, [54] 149 but the vital organs—heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, liver, etc.—are likewise mottled throughout, like rust spots in a steel watch-spring, liable to fail at any moment. ”

“ A supply of fat, per se, to the blood is essential for histogenesis and for the protection of the tissues, and is also of importance for general use as a source of heat and mechanical force. ⁠2. The carbo-hydrates and albuminoids may supply heat and mechanical force, but they can not take the place of fat in histogenesis and protection of tissue. ”

“ At this period, in well-constituted women, the fat being absorbed with less activity, is accumulated in the cellular tissue under the skin and elsewhere; and this effaces any imperfections of the skin, round the outlines anew, and again restores an air of youth and freshness. ”

“ Fat which is taken into the body is considered to be either consumed or stored. That which is stored is chiefly accumulated in the great reservoirs—viz. the subcutaneous and perinephritic fat tissue, the mesentery, omentum, and bone-marrow—although it may be found elsewhere, in the fluids and tissues of the body. This accumulation serves as a source to be drawn from in case of need, and is called upon where the easily-decomposed soluble albumen is disposed of by the functional activity of the cells. ”

“ The integument of the lower part of the face is capable of great distension, and here, in obesity, fat accumulates, and forms on both sides an unsightly mass, sometimes reaching to the chest. A roll of fat is often found on the back of the neck. The trunk becomes enormously developed, and the breasts particularly enlarged. The arms are very fat; and as the areolar tissue which surrounds the wrist is of a close texture, fat cannot accumulate there, and the skin not being distended, a deep groove or furrow is formed, as is the case in very fat children. ”

“ Just what function each one of these four groups plays in the nutrition of the human body is not definitely understood, but it seems that the proteids are particularly useful in building up cell tissue, that the carbohydrates are particularly useful in providing for muscular energy, that the fats are particularly useful in keeping up the normal warmth rather more by laying on a blanket of fat over the bones than in actually consuming the food in the creation of heat. ”

“ It is probable, that in dropsies attended with great thirst the cutaneous absorbents become paralytic first; and then from the great thirst, which is thus occasioned by the want of atmospheric moisture, the absorption of the fat ensues; as in fevers attended with great thirst, the fat is quickly taken up. See Obesitas I. 2. 3. 17. Some have believed, that the cellular and adipose membranes are different ones; as no fat is ever deposited in the eye-lids or scrotum, both which places are very liable to be distended with the mucilaginous fluid of the anasarca, and with air in Emphysema. ”

“ Leidy, who macerated with water the bodies of small animals, in stoppered bottles, to obtain their skeletons, found that the deposition of adipocire upon the bones was quite abundant.
The physiological question of the formation of fat, has been fully discussed within the past ten years, and it has been proven by diet and analysis, that herbivorous animals possess more fat than is taken in their food; but whether the fat be formed wholly from non-nitrogenized or from nitrogenized bodies, or partially from both, is yet undecided. ”

“ The cellular tissue exhales a serous fluid, and when it becomes excessive in quantity, general dropsy is produced. Fat is another secretion, which is thrown out, in a fluid state, from the cellular membrane. It is deposited in little cells, and exists in the greatest abundance between the skin and the muscles. Its use seems to be, to form a cushion around the body for its protection; to furnish nutriment for the system when food cannot be taken; to supply the carbon and hydrogen necessary to sustain the generation of heat, when these articles of combustion are not otherwise furnished. ”

“ Fatty tissue (not muscle) serves as fuel, therefore the value of such foods as butter, cream, oils, etc., is apparent. Carbohydrates form fat and serve as fuel and force producers; these come in the form of starches, sugars,—vegetables and grains being the most important. In being themselves burned to yield energy, the nutrients protect each other from being consumed. The protein and fats of body tissue are used like those [13] of foods. An important use of the carbohydrates and fats is to protect protein (muscle, etc.) ”

“ I obtained the approximate density of the adipocire of this part, by diluting alcohol with water, until the adipocire just swam half way between the surface and the bottom of the liquid, and found it to be 0·8902, which is by experiment lower than that of ox fat. Indeed, as would a priori seem probable, the fat, by the gases evolved during the putrefaction of the proteine bodies, is rendered more porous, and of a lower specific gravity, which deceives the eye, and makes the mass of fat to appear greater than it really is. ”