Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/340

 handicap of physical defect, but at cost of constant suffering.

CASE 7, that of a man 56 years of age, exhibits a history of continuous disease in youth, but includes at least twenty years of later life devoted to diet, to the fast, and to hygienic attention to the body. In fact this part of the man's existence was distinguished by work along all lines of progressive thought. At the time that the case was presented, the patient was aware that, despite all efforts at conservation of health, his condition was such that he must have recourse to every means of assistance that nature could suggest, or he must succumb to the inevitable. After examination, with the discovery that the symptoms showed marked organic disturbance, it was agreed that but one hope of recovery remained, and that this lay in a complete fast. By it would be determined either the ability of the vital organs to continue functioning, or the assurance that the human machine had reached a point where life could be no longer maintained.

The fast began, and there was no marked disturbance until the twenty-first day, while