As for alcohol, opinions differ widely.[19] Some see in alcohol one of the most frequent causes of arteriosclerosis; others do not believe that the part played by alcohol is a serious one, only in conjunction with other poisonous substances is it dangerous. Probably unreasoning fanaticism has had much to do with the wholesale condemnation of alcoholic beverages. The general effect of alcohol is to lower the blood pressure by causing marked dilatation of all the vessels of the skin. True, the alcohol circulates in the blood, and is broken up in the liver, and this organ would seem to bear the brunt of the harm done. Alcoholic drinks in moderation, I do not believe have any deleterious effect on health. On the contrary, I believe that they may in some cases assist digestion and assimilation. Indiscriminate indulgence is to be condemned, as is overindulgence in exercise or eating. What may be moderate for A, might be excessive for B. Every man is then the arbiter of his own fortune and within his own limits can indulge moderately (a relative term after all) without fear of doing himself harm. In advanced arteriosclerosis it is necessary to decrease the supply of alcohol just as it is necessary to cut down the food supply. This must rest entirely on the judgment of the physician, who must not act arbitrarily, but must have his reasons for every one of his orders. [19] Discussion of alcohol at present has value only as it relates to the past. The present is dry. The future is in the lap of the gods. =Dietetic Treatment= Most persons eat too much. We not only satisfy our hunger, but we satisfy our palates, and, instead of putting substantial foodstuffs into our stomachs, we frequently take unto ourselves concoctions that defy description. Foodstuffs are composed of one or all of three classes: (1) proteins, (2) fats, (3) carbohydrates. As examples of the first are beef and white of egg; of the second, the oils, butter, lard; of the third, sugar, potato, beet, corn, etc. The physiologists and chemists have shown us that both endogenous and exogenous uric acid in excess will cause a rise of blood pressure, but the bodies most concerned in the production of elevated blood pressure are the purin bodies, those organic compounds which are formed from proteins and represent chemically a step in the oxidation of part of the protein molecule to uric acid. Red meat contains more of the substances producing purin bodies than any other one common foodstuff, and for this reason the excessive meat eater is, _ceteris paribus_, more apt to develop arteriosclerosis comparatively early in life. The fats and carbohydrates contain practically no substances that react on the body of the ordinary individual in a deleterious manner during their digestion. The extra work that is put on the heart by the formation of many new blood vessels in adipose tissue is the only harmful effect of overindulgence in these foodstuffs.