Fat tissue

“ In accordance with the opinions of able physiologists, fat ought to constitute one-twentieth of the entire weight of the body in man (in the female about one-third more than in the male) . It consists of a multitude of minute cells, frequently forming large masses held together by a very delicate membrane, the areolar tissue, which serves as a reservoir, and prevents the fat (which is fluid during life) from floating. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ When this is done to excess, and the cells become filled with fat, they form the so-called adipose tissue. Most of this tissue is found under the skin, between the muscles, and among the organs occupying the abdominal cavity. If one readily takes on fat, it may also collect in the [pg 179] connective tissue around the heart. The stored-up fat is redissolved as needed, and enters the blood, where it again becomes available to the active cells.
3. The proteids form a part of all the tissues, and for this reason are stored in larger quantities than any of the other food substances. ”

“ In children and in females, especially in early age, the principal seat of the fatty deposit is in the cellular tissue, immediately under the skin. During adolescence, the fat has a tendency to disappear from this situation; but, about middle age, frequently becomes again deposited, not only in the subcutaneous tissues, but also in the neighborhood of certain internal viscera. The quality of the fat also varies, both with the age and with the part in which it is deposited. It is firmer and higher colored in old persons than in young ones ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Examined by the microscope, the fat cells consist of a number of minute sacs of exceedingly delicate, structureless membrane filled with oil. This is liquid in life, but becomes solidified after death. This tissue is plentiful beneath the skin, in the abdominal cavity, on the surface of the heart, around the kidneys, in the marrow of bones, and elsewhere. Fat serves as a soft packing material. Being a poor conductor, it retains the heat, and furnishes a store rich in carbon and hydrogen for use in the body. ”

“ The growth of fat contributes to the apparent hypertrophy of the diseased muscles, but much less so than does the hyperplasia of connective tissue which invariably precedes it. Great rapidity of fatty infiltration marks a more rapid and irresistible progress in the disease, a lower stage of nutritive degradation. Fat-cells are found penetrating between the primitive bundles of fibres in the atrophied as well as in the hypertrophied muscles ”

“ 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. ”

“ The exact relations of fatty tissue to the states of health are not as yet well understood; but, since on great exertion or prolonged mental or moral strain or in low fevers we lose fat rapidly, it may be taken for granted that each individual should possess a certain surplus of this readily-lost material. It is the one portion of our body which comes and goes in large amount. ”

“ Fat is one of the non-nitrogenous substances. It forms the essential part of the adipose tissue. Chemical analysis shows that all fatty substances are compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They are lighter than water, generally fluid at the natural temperature of the body, and burn with a bright flame, forming water and carbonic acid.
Caseine is abundantly found in milk. When dried, it constitutes cheese. Alcohol, acids, and the stomach of any of the mammalia coagulate it; and it is also soluble in water. It is found in the blood, bile, saliva, and the lens of the eye. ”

“ Undue accumulation of fat is not only a mechanical obstacle to the proper activity of the body as a whole, but it interferes with the freedom of movement of such muscular organs as the heart and stomach, thereby interposing obstacles to the normal action of these structures. Further, whenever undue fat formation is going on in the body, there is the ever present danger that the lifeless fat may replace the living protoplasm of the tissue cells and so give rise to a condition known as “fatty degeneration.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ Eventually, the pus is transformed into a detritus in which fat-drops are found in great number.
Similar appearances may be present in the protoplasm of muscular tissue, the cells of the liver, kidneys, and gastric glands, when poisonous doses of phosphorus or arsenic are given. The occurrence of an acute fatty metamorphosis of the cells of various organs in new-born children has repeatedly been observed. The presence of fat in various organs of the body in pernicious anæmia, and in the heart in connection with stenosis of the coronary artery, is universally recognized. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Independently of its importance as a non-conducting substance in impeding the too rapid escape of animal heat, fat may also be regarded as a store of material to compensate for waste of tissue, under sickness, or other circumstances, entailing temporary abstinence from food. But when fat accumulates to the extent of interfering with important functions, and becomes a load and a drag, impeding the respiratory movements, making exercise painful, and dulling the sensibilities, it is then not only a source of great discomfort, but the precursor of positive disease. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Fat, Overweight Individual
¶ Soft flesh thickly padded over a small-boned body distinguishes the pure Alimentive type. In men of this type the largest part of the body is around the girth; in women it is around the hips. These always indicate a large nutritive system in good working order. Fat is only surplus tissue—the amount manufactured by the assimilative system over and above the needs of the body. ”

“ This accumulation may be manifested not only in the voluntary muscles, but in the heart as well, which may present abundant sub-pericardial and sub-endocardial fat, the myocardium also being interlarded with streaks of fat, the so-called fatty infiltration of the heart. The abdominal walls may become thickened to the extent of a couple of inches, and the mesentery, omentum, perinephritic tissue, and liver may become enormously increased in weight from the mass of accumulated fat. ”

“ If the fat existing in the animal body is contained in cellular tissue, its separation may be simply effected by placing the incised tissue in hot water. The cells burst and the fat collects itself on the surface of the water. If vegetable substances contain fat in large quantity, as, for example, seeds, it may be obtained by expression. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As these accumulate they run together to form larger granules and this process continuing, the cell at last becomes converted into a thin layer of living material surrounding a single large fat globule. The use of fatty tissue is to serve as a storehouse of food material for future use. ”

“ When opened, the cellular tissue on the surface of the body beneath the skin is seen to be injected with air, as if a quantity of soap-bubbles were scattered over it, or a dishonest, awkward butcher had been trying to make it look fat. The fat is of a greenish-yellow color and of an oily consistence. All the muscles are flabby, and the heart often so soft that the fingers may be made to meet through it. The lungs and liver partake of the disease. ”

“ One man may consume large amounts of hard mutton fat with its relatively large content of stearin, while another individual may take his fat mainly in the form of the soft butter fats, with their relatively large content of olein and palmitin. In both cases, the fat of the man’s tissues will be essentially the same. To be sure, the changes that take place in the tissue cells, reinforced by the construction of fat from other sources, may be partly responsible for this constancy of composition, but the transformations incidental to absorption are quite possibly, in some measure, helpful thereto. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is necessary to distinguish carefully the size of the body which arises from cellular fat, from that which is the consequence of the proper development and nutrition of the organs. 3d. Oftentimes the causes which evidently weaken the powers of life, produce a considerable quantity of fat; such as inactivity, rest, great and long continued hemorrhage, convalescence from certain acute diseases, in which the powers still languish, though fat abounds. 4th. A fatty state of the muscles is a state of evident weakness in them. ”

“ The fats eaten are not stored in the body directly, but the body constructs its fats from those eaten, and from other substances in food,—according to some authorities from the carbohydrates and proteids, and according to others from proteids alone.
Fats are stored away as fat, furnish heat, and are used for energy; at least, it is probable that at times they are put to the latter use. The fats laid by in the body for future use last in cases of starvation quite a long time, depending, of course, upon the amount. At such times a fat animal will live longer than a lean one. ”

“ Conversely, in the emaciated we sometimes find beneath the skin nucleated cells, which contain only one oil drop. Many masses of fat which have an important relation to muscular actions—such as the fat of the orbit or the cheek— do not disappear in the most emaciated object. ”