The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-09-01

@nISCt, piopGAots taS fItOSt uESdueu
of all diseases, Is on the increase in
spite of the fact that 1t is durable If
treated early, says the United States
public health service. In it's death
toll In the United States cancer al
ready ranks among tuberculosis, pneu-
monia. heart disease and diseases of
the kidney, and 1t is much more
feared than any of these. This is be-
cause of the ignorance OF the public,
the difficulty of detecting a cancer in
t its early stages and the fact that when
1t has reached the recognizable stage
| it has gone benyond the durable
stage.
The medical world today believes
| that work for the control of cancer
should be largely similar to that so
successfully carried on in tubcrcu-
iosis; that is. should consist mainly In
| widespread education of the general
public to recognize cancer in it's pre-
cancerous state, it should train the
people at the first alarm to seek the
! advice of a competent physician. and
II should keep the public freely ad-
vised of the latest scientific knowl-
edge concerning cancer, its causes.
prevention and cure.
The first and most important require
is that the public change IT'S viewpoint
The United States census bureau for
| 1917 gave a total OF sl.4s2 deaths from
cancer as compared with 112,S2l from
pneumonia 11e.3s5 from tuberculosis.
11s.357 from heart disease and s0,a13
from kidney diseases. So 1t will be
readily seen that cancer already ranks
among the leading causes of death in
| this country.
Cancer Is apparently increasing The
recorded death rate shows abou, two
and one-half per cent more cases every
year It has risen from 6z.a deaths per
| 100000 of population in 1899 te SIS
in 1917 Some OF this increase lis un-
| q, estionahly due to an Improvement in
recording and gathering vital Stats
| tics and to better diagnosis. bot it Is
generally believed that these factors
do not alone account for the increase
@~@ Cancer, Undiscovered early and treat
ed Immediately by competent ply
sieian and sargeeAris now regarded as
curable disease. Unfortunately the
early discovery IL difficult, Unlike al
most any. other disease it's first attack
| is usually painless, and often. there
fore, before the disease is discovered
| 1t has reached the stage where a major
| operation Is necessary and the chances
Ct cure have been greatly reduced, il
not entirely lost. Another unfortunate
circumstance is that in many cases
when a person realizes he has cancer
tie fails to seek the best medical treat
rnent Advertising quacks and patent
riedictnes. claiming phenomenal cures.
loom up like a ray of hope to the af-
fticted AZ matter OF fact their treat
n.cnt invariably aggravates instead OF
helping and when competent ply
E sleians are finally consulted the ease is
really beyond any hope of recovery. or
arrest
The belief that cancer lis contagious
has caused untold suffering and occa-
sionally cruel neglect OF the untortu-
ssstss ssa ffsFerss Sa far an 1t has beer
possible for scientists to learn there
In ra Term. cAFa5an of ca sis!ng cancer In
human beings or animals. In communi-
ties where the cancer prevalence is
higher than In others 1t has invariably
been traced to the fact that most OF
the young people had left the commu-
nifty. Since cancer is a disease of mid
ole age the higher rate was to he ex-
pActed, There is no case on record in
which either ap operating surgeon. or
nurse, has contracted cancer from COM
ing into contact with II, even after
years OF work exclusively in this neld
Another popular myth that seems to
lie pretty we'll exploded Is that cancer
Ia hereditary No argument could he
more convincing than the way iife in
surance companies look at this aspect
CT the disease from business point
OF view. In deciding whether per-
ron Ia . good risk these compa MES
disregard evidence that cancer occurred
In one or both parents. or in other an
~estors. Their carefully-kept statistics
covering many years prove that the
Person to be insured win not neces-
sarily contract the disease Indeed the
Insurance companies say there is no
cause for apprehension even II both
parents died Of cancer. The most that
could be fairly argued Is that people
whose families seem particularly sus-
cepttble to cancer should well inform
themselves with regard to early symp.
toms and be on the alert for the first
danger signal
The tissues Of the body, the muscles,
the glands. the. bones. are each COM
rcsed of q very large number Of very
tiny cells. which may be compared to
the bricks in a building. and they are
reid together by material which may,
be compared to. the mortar. However,
the body cells are alive. constantly
growing and dying on. according to
certain laws which we do not com.
pletely understand. Sometimes these
cells begin to grow and develop slong
lines which arr not in harmony with
the usual order. little group OF the
cells forms lawless colony. which
constitutes an unhealthy, growing spot
In the body This may occur on the
skin. in the breast. stomach, throat.
or in any part Of the body. Frequently
they form Z little hard lump which can
easily be detected by touching 1t and
which can very easily be removed by
the physician. II this mass 10 not re.
moved At once II usually continues to
grow and to branch on into the sur
rounding tissues. This penetration
marks the difference, the fatal line be-
tween the benign or harmless growths
ike warts. and malignant growfhs or
cancers. Finally large mass In formed
md minute portions become detached
and are carried to other parts OF the
body. when ordinary cells become dS-
tachsd and get out Of place they
Usually die. Cancer cells, on the other
hand. have such : power Of survival
they continue to grow wherever they
tire deposited and new cancers are the
rCsuN. s
C&ncsf often arises after continued.
long irritation OF various kinds and In
nnd about benign Erowths. sor u,ccra-
tions. Cancer OF the lip and mouth has
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