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Dr. Williams says hostility has three stages, and he gives this example: You are in an express line at the supermarket checkout with a sign saying, “No more than 10 items.”

Stage 1: You distrust others. You count the items in the baskets of the people in front of you. You expect somebody to cheat and thereby take advantage of you.

Stage 2: You feel angry when you find somebody cheating. The guy in front of you has 12 items.

Stage 3: You show the anger by saying something nasty to the “cheater.”

According to Dr. Williams, all three stages can damage you. In one study, high levels of hostility found in healthy men at age 25 were seen as predictors that they were up to seven times more likely to get heart disease or die by age 50.

In another test, young men with and without high hostility levels worked on a complex mental task. Blood pressure in both groups rose at about the same rate. At one point, a psychologist began to harass the test takers. In the non-hostile men, blood pressure remained steady. In the hostile men, however, the pressure went through the roof.

Other studies show that hostility can spur the release of a hormone called epinephrine, which makes your heart beat fast and your blood pressure rise. High blood pressure leads to damaged arteries and heart attack.

Dr. Williams says those who cynically mistrust other people are most at risk. Dr. Friedman says hostility comes from unbridled greed, low self-esteem, or insecurity – feelings that you will be hurt, might fail, or won’t be loved. Whatever its source, doctors agree that hostility is a factor in heart attack.

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GENERAL HEALTH

Infants vary widely in their growth patterns, and it is not wise to compare one infant with another; yet, there is some value in being familiar with typical patterns of development and growth. On the average, infants gain 140 to 225 gm (5 to 8 oz) per week during the first five months, and double their birth weight in this time. For the remainder of the year the weight increase is about 110 to 140 gm (4 to 5 oz) per week; the birth weight is tripled by the age of 10 to 12 months. The initial height of 50 to 55 cm (20 to 22 in.) has increased to 75 cm (30 in.) or more by the end of the first year.

The body content of water at birth is high and that of fat is low. The relative lack of subcutaneous fat and the proportionately high surface area explain why additional precautions must be taken to keep infants warm. The bones are comparatively soft in the newborn baby, but they continue to add mineral substance throughout childhood and adolescence. Teeth begin to erupt at five to six months. By the end of the year the infant will have five to ten teeth.

The baby is born with a large head and short arms and legs. In the first years of life the nervous system continues to develop rapidly so that the brain will have reached 90 per cent of adult size at the age of four years. Severe malnutrition during pregnancy and the first months of life leads to inadequate development of the central nervous system, and the poorly nourished infant and child may never reach his full mental potential.

The newborn infant’s stomach has a capacity of about 30 ml, and at one year can hold about 240 ml. The ability to digest protein, simple sugars, and emulsified fats is present at birth in the full-term infant. During the early months of life the production of amylase and lipase increases so that starchy foods and fats may be gradually included.

The kidneys achieve their full functional capacity by the end of the first year. Young infants are unable to excrete high concentrations of waste that might occur if undiluted cow’s milk were fed or if the intake of fluid is inadequate.

Normal infants have a hemoglobin level of 17 to 20 gm per 100 ml. This high level protects against anemia until the iron intake is adequate from the diet.

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GENERAL HEALTH