Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-12-09
SALT A FACTOR IN CANCER
INTERESTING DISCOVERY MADE BY
A LONDON SURGEON.
By q Process Of Elimination He
Reaches This Important Scien-
tihc Conclusion.

A dispatch to the New York Herald from
London says:
The experiments in the treatment Of can
Ger by the Roentgen rays in America are
watched with great interest by the medical
profession here in view Of the fact that
cancer has already been successfully
treated at the London Skin Hospital, and
that at present there Is a case Of breast
cancer undergoing similar treatment at
the same place with encouraging results SO
far.
The Lancet publishes long article by
DR.. James Braithwaik. advancing the
theory that excess Of salt in ones diet Is
one of four factors which originate can
Ger.
It is an essential factor he says, but it
Is imperative without at least one, or prob
ably two, of the others.
Excess of salt may arise from individual
taste or from too much salt meat, or from
too much ordinary meat, which OF course
involves much salt.
Other factors are an overnourished condi-
ton of the body from more food, especially
more meat, than required and an impure
condition Of the body, owing to the non-use
and non-oxidation Of the food which has
been taken.
1t obtains in old age and in persons who
lead indolent, easy indoor lives and locally
in organs of which the active functions
have ceased.
A fourth factor Is some local irritant or
stimulant, such as friction from the stem
Of a pipe, or irritation from some micro
organisms of which no one Is actually
specific, or from ovarian stimulation In the
case of the breast.
OF these the first must always be pres
ent, and probably in some form the fourth.
Seldom Found Among Hebrews.
The idea originated in the mind Of the
writer by his noticing that cancer is sell
dom or never met with among the numer-
GUS Jewesses attending the genealogical
department at the Leeds General Infirmary,
where there has been only one case found
in ten years.
DR.. A. c. Tunstall, medical officer until
recently to the Jewish Hospital for In
curables, writes that he has never seen
case Of cancer among the Jewish patients.
If this comparative immunity is correct
the only explanation possible lies in the
difference of race and the difference of diet.
The latter is far more probable than the
former
The difference of diet between Hebrews
and Gentiles consists mainly in the alb
sence Of bacon and ham from the Hebrew
diet, and as, according to Prof. J. Nc
Fadyean. the principal Of the Royal Veter-
mary College. the pig is the only domestic
animal in which no case Of cancer has
been met with. 1t must be the salt and not
the flesh of the animal which is to blame.
The Hebrews also eat less butchers meat
and more fowl and fish.
These points all tend to the conclusion
that salt is an active factor in cancer
Specially Connected With Diet.
Nothing be clearer about cancer than
the fact that its incidence is connected
with diet and that the only constantly
present thing in daily diet is salt
1t does not matter what the rest Of the
food may be, salt must be present and in
excess, considering the patients occupation
and mode of life. If salt Is absent cancer
is absent.
Savages. so far as is known, are exempt
from cancer. and they get no salt.
All the domestic animals except the pig
are subject to cancer. and salt Is given to
sheep. cows and horses, but never to pigs.
The wild carnivora. with, Of course, a
pure meat diet, are exempt.
On the other hand. when confined in ZOO
logical gardens, they are given salt, and
they become subject to cancer.
An African hippopotamus recently died
from cancer at the Geological Gardens in
London. Salt had been given to it.
Prevalence in Farming Districts.
Wherever there Is an extensive cancer
field a district in which the inhabitants
seem to be especially prone to the disease
it will be found that the people have an
excessive meat diet largely consisting Of
ham and bacon.
This Dr. Braithwaite noticed in the noto-
rious Misunderstanding district, as well as
in Wetherby. One common factor the doctor
found in these places-that the farming
class eat meat or bacon two or three times
day. He found general good living among
the wealthy classes. and Of course much
meat means much salt.
The poorer classes, who eat less meat,
and accordingly less salt, are compare