i "Speed#/ Smith is laid up again with trouble in the 
midriff. He is trying to figure just how much his 
stomach has hit him in the pay envelope. A simple 
arithmetic problem. 
Have you, like "Speed," lost time from work 
because of stomach trouble? If so, you have plenty 
of company. 
More American workers lose time from their jobs 
because of stomach trouble than for any other illness 
except colds and influenza. The time lost adds up 
to 20,000,000 days a year. This means about 
$100,000,000 in lost wages. Stomach trouble covers a multitude of ills. 
It may be only an uncomfortable feeling after meals. 
It may be a series of more unpleasant experiences, 
with pain, nausea, vomiting, and bowel trouble. 
It may last less than a day, or it may be chronic. 
These signs of trouble in the midriff are called by 
many names. People complain of—upset stomach, 
indigestion, sick stomach, dyspepsia, gas, heartburn, 
no appetite, sour stomach, acidity, stomach ache, 
constipation, or diarrhea. None of these familiar 
terms describes the cause of the trouble. 
The cause of stomach trouble may be a natural 
rebellion of healthy organs against careless eating 
and drinking. Or it may be the effect of disease in 
some other part of the body. Or it may be a sickness 
in which the stomach, itself, is the diseased part. 
The Stomach is one of the first organs to get 
going 100 percent after birth. Your first hunger 
cry told the world that you and your stomach had 
made a lifelong contact. Your stomach makes 
known its needs; you see that the needs are supplied. 
A healthy, well-fed stomach does a big job with 
no more effort by the owner than it takes to blink 
an eye. The stomach produces juices that digest some foods and gets others ready for digestion. 
Then the stomach muscles push the food on into the 
small intestine. There digestion is completed. The 
food has been changed into simpler substances 
which the body needs for energy, growth, and repair. 
What goes on in the stomach directly affects the 
small intestine, the large intestine, the liver, gall 
bladder, and other organs of digestion and elimina- 
tion. What goes on in those organs affects the 
stomach. 
Planted right in the center 
of things, so to speak, the stomach is in touch with 
liver 
stomach 
gall , 
bladder 
small 
intestine 
large 
intestine all that goes on in your personal community. Some 
call the stomach the body's barometer because it 
gives warning signals of storms approaching from 
distant parts. For example, stomach upsets may 
be the first rumblings of heart trouble, or diabetes. 
They may be the first signs of gall bladder trouble, 
liver disease, or a sick appendix. 
Phil Putter had spots 
before the eyes and indi- 
gestion. He carried three 
kinds pi pills, took them 
faithfully, but refused to 
see a doctor. One day, 
his wife called the doctor. 
The bad attack Phil 
thought was indigestion turned out to be a sign of 
heart trouble. The doctor could have told the 
difference in the beginning. He could have kept 
Phil's ticker going for years longer than it did. 
The first signs of poisoning caused by certain 
materials used in industry may be digestive upsets. 
When Frank Allbright went to work on a spray- 
painting job he began to lose time because of nausea. Frank thought it 
came from a change in 
climate. But the doctor 
at the company hospital 
found the real answer. 
When he reported Frank's 
case, the company located 
the source of exposure to 
lead poisoning and cut it 
off. Frank was saved a serious illness. 
Food poisoning brings on violent, often fatal, 
stomach attacks. It is caused by germs in spoiled 
food. These germs grow very rapidly in meat 
dishes, salads, eggs, and custard or cream-filled 
pastries, unless the food is stored in clean containers, 
cooled quickly, and kept cold until time for serving. 
Make sure that the food you eat at home and 
especially at picnics, club suppers, and other social 
gatherings is properly prepared. 
Ulcers and cancer of the stomach are two 
serious diseases in which the stomach itself is the 
sick organ. Both diseases can be cured, if discovered 
early and treated by a competent doctor. 
The warning signs of ulcer and cancer of the stomach are the same as for many mild stomach 
troubles. Continued discomfort after meals, indi- 
gestion, heartburn, loss of appetite, as well as 
nausea and vomiting, may be signs of ulcer or 
cancer. Pain is seldom an early sign. 
Even a healthy stomach will be frank if it does not 
get the right kinds of food in the right amounts. 
Take Brad Bounderby's 
case. Brad lost 2 days 
a week from work for 6 
weeks running. Come 
Monday morning he was 
so nauseated he couldn't 
hold his head up. His 
trouble was the week-end spree. No self-respecting 
stomach can take repeated over doses of alcohol. 
Or take Mary Martin. She felt dizzy and sick in 
the stomach every day 
by 10 o'clock. Often she 
had to leave work and go 
home. Her trouble was 
"reducing"—skipping 
breakfast, skimping lunch, 
"dieting" at dinner. Strong emotions, like fear and anger, affect the 
stomach. You don't have to know about the fear 
or anger. It can be hidden, just as heart disease 
or tuberculosis may be hidden. But when you go 
on nursing worries and dislikes, stomach trouble 
may be your only signal of the trouble. 
Susan Sourwine spent 
more time at home with 
stomach upsets than any- 
one else in her section. 
But doctors found nothing 
wrong with her organs. 
No disease. Susan always complained about work 
conditions too. She couldn't get along with anyone. 
At home, Susan had a hard time supporting her 
mother and two younger brothers. Fellow workers 
said her trouble was "sheer cussedness." They 
saw no connection between Susan's family trouble 
and her stomach trouble. Neither did Susan. 
How do you answer a warning from the 
midriff? Many people do nothing; or they do the 
wrong things. A favorite answer is to reach for a 
bottle of drug-store medicine. 
There are better ways to save the good health and the money that stomach trouble may cost you. 
Be kind to your stomach. But do not spoil it 
with too much attention. While the stomach works 
quietly and efficiently, enjoy your good health. You 
will take real warnings more seriously if you let a 
healthy stomach alone. 
Learn to choose your food and drink wisely. 
Many different foods and enough ofthem are needed 
every day to keep you strong and healthy. Healthy 
people should eat three square meals a day. Eat 
more fruits and cooked cereals; more green and 
yellow vegetables; more meat, fish, cheese, eggs, 
butter, and milk. 
Learn not to take too much of the foods and drinks 
that are not needed for health—sweets, bottled 
drinks, alcohol, coffee, and tea. 
Eat when you ore rested and ready to enjoy 
your food. Keep the family meal hour for peaceful 
talk. Settle disputes some other time. If you are 
"on your own," try to find a quiet, cheerful place 
and eat regularly. 
Rest and regular meal hours are especially 
important for workers on the swinging shift. Often, 
the change in work hours means the worker gets less sleep and his meal times are upset. Until he 
becomes adjusted to the change, his stomach may 
rebel against the new schedule and cause trouble. 
Spare no effort to get plenty of rest and regular 
meals if you are on a swinging shift. 
Take your time about eating. You can stoke 
away a heavy meal in a few minutes, but every 
time you do, you overwork your stomach. 
Go to your doctor, if stomach trouble puts you 
on the sick list time after time. Let him find the real 
cause. Do not waste time dosing yourself and 
waiting for it to get better. 
Act on your doctor's advice. Do not expect a 
competent doctor to look at you and write a prescrip- 
tion in 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes great patience 
and many special tests to discover the body's secrets. 
But when your doctor has found the cause of your 
trouble, you will be on the right track. 
Do not expect good results unless you take your 
doctor's advice. Many people fail to do this, 
especially if the advice means changing their way 
of living. They don't like to try new foods, give up 
sweets or liquor, get more sleep or exercise. Failure 
to act on the doctor's advice can have serious results. Oh, yes! "Speed" Smith figured he had lost $5O 
in pay alone because of stomach trouble during the 
last year. That got "Speed." Next day he checked 
in at his doctor's. After a thorough examination, 
the doctor told "Speed" that his trouble was not 
serious. 
The doctor sold "Speed" on the idea of eating 
regularly and eating the right foods. "Speed" 
threw a lot of worthless pills out the window. He 
and his stomach get along much better now. He 
hasn't lost a day from work since then. "Speed" 
and many other workers have learned to— 
"Get at the cause of stomach 
trouble and get back on the job" Workers7 Health Series 
No. 1 But Flu Is Tougher 
No. 2 Leonard's Appendix—And How It Burst 
No. 3 KO by CO Gas 
No- 4 Clara Gives Benzol the Run Around 
No. 5 Trouble in the Midriff 
FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY 
U. S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
Workers' Health Series—No. 5 
For sale by Superintendent of Documents, 
United States Government Printing Office 
Washington: 1941 16—24127-1