The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-04-27
CANCER DEATH RATE
HIGH IN VERMONT
State Medical Society to Start Cam
paign Against Disease with Series
of Public Meetings.

According to statistics recently published
by the census bureau, Vermont has the
highest cancer death rate of any state in
the United States registration area In
1903, 402 people died from cancer in Yer
mont, which gives the rate of I'LL per
100000 of the population. This is an
average of a little over one victim day.
The Vermont State Medical society con-
siders these facts of such significance that
it will cooperate with the American So
ciety for the Control of Cancer in an edu-
cational campaign to let the people of the
state know the exact conditions that pre-
vail and how this disease may be prevent
ed and cured. Meetings and lectures will
soon be given in Rutland, Burlington,
Montpelier, and st. Johnsbury.
The fact that Vermont has the highest
cancer death rate does not necessarily
mean that people are especially liable to
cancer just because they happen to live
here According to the census bureau
Vermonts high death rate is accounted
for by the relatively high age distribution
of the population and the negligible
amount of immigration. Translated into
everyday terms this means that in Yer
mont the proportion of people over 40
years Of age, or at the cancer age, to
those who are under 40, and so less liable
to cancer, is greater than in other places
This condition is doubtless because sc
many of the younger people leave the
farms and rural districts and seek the
larger cities of the country.
Cancer is a disease of middle and later
life OF the total of 402 deaths from can
Ger in the state only sc were under 5C
wears of age, while BOP deaths occurred
between the ages of 30 and so years. AL
though the rate is seriously high there
| should be no fear that Vermont is per
| haps a cancer state in the same sense
| that we hear of the mythical "cancel
houses and cancer Streets The rate
| for the neighboring states are correspond
| ingly high. In 1913 the cancer deatl
rate for Maine was 1918; New Hamp
shire, 1914; and Massachusetts, 101 A
| Kentucky had the low record with tn,
rate of As. In 1912 Vermont also lee
with the rate of 110.4 per 100000.
Cancer is not hopeless, ineurable affec
ton, as so many people wrongly believe
/ Those who know the facts are of the opin
ion that if the public can be properly edu
Gated in regard to this disease the presen
mortality should be reduced at least hal
and perhaps two-thirds. The American
| Society for the Control of Cancer believe
/
| should be acquainted with the early sign
of cancer and that this knowledge whel
fully disseminated viii greatly reduce tn
advanced forms of the disease.
The state Medical society viii start tn
campaign of education in Vermont b,
holding series of public meetings t
spread the bad news of the high canoe
death rate and the good news of the hop
of controlling the disease by earlier rec
ognition and prompt surgical treatment
Four district meetings win be held o.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Fri
day, june Sth to 18th, at Rutland, Bun
ington, Montpelier, and st. bloomsbury
Two kinds of meetings win be held. /
the afternoon the sessions will be for tn
benefit of the medical profession and i
the evenings the general public viii be il
vited. Men of national reputation WI
speak and educational literature will /
distributed