The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-26
Is TOBACCO INJURIOUS?
Doctors Gay Cancers Are hot Generally
Caused by Smoking.

General Grants condition Gud the
cause to which the cancer has been at
tributed have occasioned much comment
among smokers Of this city. Some Of
the more timid onea have reduced their
dsily allowance of cigars and other prn
iess To have no fears Of any trouble. A
Wertd reporter yesterday interviewed
many physicians. and they oil agreed
that the danger of cancer from smoking
10 very slight indeed, and that only q
small percentage Of casea of epitheIi0ma
can the origin be.clearly traced to the
use oftobacco. Some physicians, in fact,
Hay that there Ia really no such thing ap
"smoker's cancer" and one young doctor
ut Bellevue Hospital stopped putting hir
cigarette long enough to assure the re.
porter that "all this talk about pipe
cancer is bluff and CUFF" Older sur.
genns, however, cay that while very rare,
few cases Of smokers cancer do occur.
Dr. Stephen Smith. nna Of the oldest
surgeons at Bellevue Hospital. said ths,
there were not probably moro than n
dozen cssee year Of epitheloma Of the
lip treated ct that institution. "And oil
of these caoEot be by any means attrib.
uted to smoking" he continued. "Snn,e
of the patieuts are women, and some of
them men who do not smoke. Continued
pressure nnd consequent irritation upon
any part Of the skin are apt tn bring ou
epithelioma in those predisposed to Il.
The pressure Of the crown plate Of act
OF false teeth or the irritation cauaad by
broken tooth rubbing against the lip
may start the trouble. Where smoking
ia 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 1ssure or sore spot.
II often develops into cancer, often before
the sufferer knows what tho trouble 10.
One case came to my notice recently in
which the patient did not smoke, but
waR in the habi. Of carrying an unlighe
ed cigar in his mouth"
Odd the nicotine poison his blood aud
thus produce the cancer r."
"No; think it was due to the press.
ure of the ciger upon the -lip-no,hing
more"
"What do ycu think is tho emoker's
best preventive Of caucer2"
ITO let pipes and cigan severely alone
10 the best plan can aug ggest."
"Do the cases of cancer on the lip often
result fatally :"
mo, not If taken in time. But peo.
pro SoltCihiiS TdiL uutl ~ ID LOO lat0
before attending to it. The diseased
part is cut out, but tue malady recura at
intervals of few months, aud death
frequently results after three or four
years. The most noled case which I can
recall 10 that Of the Rev. Dr.. Budingtou,
the Brookly yn clergyman. You remembers
he fingered q long while aud died after
great deal of suffering and several opera.
tions had been performed. I do not
think he was smoker. The present
elarm about cancer from smoking 10
overdone. Pressure Of tho cigar or pipe
may be directing cause of cancer, but It
will be found that in the majority Of
cases there 10 predispositinn to the
disease 10 the perann attacked. Those
afflicted with the cancer of the lip do
not always suffer from much pain, and I
know Of quite G number Of instanceo
where there was comparatively little or
no suffering from the direase. Very
ofteD, perhaps in the majority of cases,
epitheli0ma results from the degeuera
tion of the tissues incidental to old age.
There seems to be q general decay Of
the membrane. You will find that
most of those In whom cancer appears
are above City years old"
A World reporter called upon DR..
Bulkley at the Skin and Cancer Hospital
in Thirty-fourth street. in response to
questions he paid: II think the alarm
about the disastrous consequences of
tobacco smoking are much greater than
the facts warrant. Cancer Of the lower
lip Is comparatively small and canpo,
always be traced to smoking, although
pipe cancer is o 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 thres cigars q day
tbe number they genorully Can smoke
with safety, and the strongest men
ever saw could not consume more than
ten day with impunity. Pipes gener
ely collect nicotine In the bowl or stem,
which escapes to the mouth and coming
10 contact with the mucous membrane is
apt u get Into tho eyrtem and cause local
cancers on the lips or tip Of the tongue.
Excessive smoking often brings on whs.
l:called 'umoker's patch 1t consists of
the sides of the tongue and the inaide of
the cheeko. This 10 often, although not
always, preliminary to canLer. If a
person stops smoking when 'smoker's
patch, appears. The trouble so6n yields TO-
treatment: If not. cancer will probably
set in. But, as I said, this disease 10
comparatively rare. Epithelioma Of the
lips 10 almost exclusively seen In mBles.
II has been asserted by several writer's
that whore 1t occurs In females It Ia
found shat they smoke. DR. Warren, of
tho Massachusetts General Hospital, In
Boston, reports that In bic experience of
forty years st that Institution, the whole
number of cases of cancer on the l!p Was
seventy .seveD, of which four sere 70.
males. Forty.four of tho men were
smokers, and Of tho four women, three
admitted that they smoked pipes"
How does IL manifest itself and do.
ut commonly comes as q fissure, sbrs.
sion or broken surface on tho lips. It
hardens and refuses to heal, and IL COW.
cred with darkish crust. beneath which
the surface 10 moiat and bleeding, accom-.
panied By stinging pain. AZ time pro.
gresses, measured by months rather than
BY years, tho core spot @lsrges and ex.
ceasive granulstions appear. Commonly
swelling OF one Of tho CLANS beneath
.hs jaw occurs. Almost ali applications
TO such sore are Ineffective 10 heal Il,
and often only irritate II. Caustfc ap.
plicatiops but increase tho growth. In.
early stages the patient suffers but little
pain. Whom once the spot becomes
iyritated the spread of the disease 10 moro
rapid, and In it's later stages often pro.
gHesses VerV' 0uickty III Operat. d m