The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-26
ANDERSON c.. THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 26, 1885
Is TOBACCO INJURIOUss

! Is TOBACCO INJURIOUS3
Dosters Say Cancers Arc Not Geuor4ll,
Caused by Smoking.
General Grants condition and tht
cause to which the cancer has been at
tributed have occasioned much commen
among smokers of this city. Some o
the more timid ones have reduced thei,
dsiy allowance of cigars and other pro
fess to have no fears Of any trouble. A
World reporter yesterday interviewed
many physicians, and they al agreed
that the danger of cancer from smoking
is very slight indeed, and that only 8
small percentage of cases Of epithelioma
can the origin be.clearly traced to the
uae oftobscco. Some physicians, in fact
say that there ia really no such thing as
smokers cancer" and one young doctor
at Bellevue Hospital stopped putting hi
cigarette long enough to assure the re.
porter that call this talk about pipe
cancer is bluff and CUFF" Older sur.
geons, however, cay that while very rare,
few cases of smokers cancer do occur.
DR.. Stephen Smith, one of the oldest
surgeons at Bellevue Hospital. said that
there were not probably more than a
dozen cases year of epithelioma of the
lip treated at that institution. "And all
of these cannot be by any means attrib'
uted to smoking" be continued. "Soae
of the patients are women, and some Of
them men who do not smoke. Continued
pressure ind consequent irritation upon
any part of the skin are apt to bring ON
epithelioma in those predisposed to it.
The pressure of the crown plate of Sc,
of false teeth or the irritation cauaed by
broken tooth rubbing against the lip
may start the trouble. Where smoking
is responsible for its occurrence it will be
found that long continued pressure of
the pipe.stem upon the lower lip results
in the formation of fssure or sore spot.
It often develops into cancer, often before
the sufferer knows what the trouble is.
One case came to my notice recently in
which the patient did not smoke, but
was in the habit of carrying an unlight
ed cigar in his mouth"
"Dld the nicotine poison his blood and
thus produce the cancer?"
"No; think it was due to the press.
ure of the cigar upon the -lip-nothing
more"
"What do you think is the smokers
best preventive of caucerf"
ITO let pipes and cigars severely alone
is the best plan can suggest"
"Do the cases of cancer on the lip often
result fatally ~
mo, not if taken in time. But peo-
pie generally wait until it is too late
before attending to it. The diseased
part is cut out, but the malady recurs at
intervals of few months, and death
frequently results after three or four
years. The most noted case which / can
recall ia that of the Rev. DR.. Burlington,
the Brooklyn clergyman. You remember
be fingered long while and died after
great deal of suffering and several opera
.tions bad been performed. l do not
think he was smoker. The present
alarm about cancer from smoking is
overdone. Pressure of the cigar or pipe
may be directing cause of cancer, but it
will be found that in the majority Of
cases there is a predisposilion to the
disease in the person attacked. Those
afflicted with the cancer of the lip do
not always suffer from much pain, and |
know of quite q number Of instances
where there was comparatively little or
no suffering from the disease. Very
often, perhaps in the majority of cases,
epithelioma results from the degenera
ton of the tissues Incidental to old age.
There seems to be general decay OF
the membrane. You will fnd that
most of those in whom cancer appears
are above fifty years old"
A World reporter called upon DR..
Bulkley at the Skin and Cancer Hospital
in Thirty-fourth street. In response to
questions he aaid: II think the alarm
atout the disastrous consequences of
tobacco smoking are much greater than
the facts warrant. Cancer Of the lower
lip is comparatively small and canno,
always be traced to smoking, although
pipe cancer is name long ago given to
the disease. The effects of moderate
smoking on the average man are not
seen at all. In persons of average
strength / consider three cigars day
the number they generally cau smoke
with safety, and the strongest man |
ever saw could not consume more than
ten day with i,upunity. Pipes gener
ally collect nicotine in the bowl or stem,
which escapes to the mouth and coming
in contact with the mucous membrane is
apt tn get into the system and cause local
cancers on the lips or tip of the tongue.
Excessive smoking often brings on what
is called smokers patch II consists of
irregular white patches, which appear on
the sides of the tongue and the inside of
the cheeks. This is often, although not
always, preliminary to cancer. II a
person stops smoking when smokers
patch, appears, the trouble soon yields to.
treatment: if not, cancer will probably
set in. But, as I said, this disease is
comparatively rare. Epithelioma of the
lips is almost exclusively seen in males.
1t has been asserted by several writer's
that where it occurs in females it ia
found that they smoke. DR. Warren, of
the Massachusetts General Hospital, in
Boston, reports that in bis experience Of
forty years at that institution, the whole
number of cases of cancer on the lip was
seventy seven, of which four we're fe'
males. Forty-four of the men were
smokers, and of the four women, three
admitted that they smoked pipes"
"How does it manifest itself and de.
velop?"
''It commonly comes as fssure, abra-
sion or broken surface on the lips. 1t
hardens and refuses to heal, and is COW
cred with darkish crust, beneath which
the surface is moist aud bleeding, accom-.
panied by stinging pain. AS time pro
crosses, measured by months rather than
by years, the sore spot e4larges and ex.