Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1925-07-11
| T O RIAL S

its cause; but we now know a
great deal about it and for vari-
GUS reasons we feel that the
death rate from its ravages can
be reduced. We know (D that
early cancer is a local condition
and can be cured by complete
eradication; (2) that it is not con
tagious, or infectious; (3) that
it is not hereditary; that is, a can
Ger cell cannot be transmitted
from parent to offspring; (4
with reasonable certainty, we
know what organs and parts of
the body will be attacked at GER
tain ages and under what condi-
tions cancer will develop; t5)
that almost 100000 OF car iess
citizens are dying annLaii,: and
that one woman in every eight
and one man in every fourteen
who have attained the age of 40
years and over will die of cancer;
(6) that it is not blood disease
and no one should be ashamed of
having it. 1t simply begins at a
point of long continued irritation,
which if removed, will often pre-
vent the development of cancer;
CD that many ferns, when left
alone, spread to other parts Of
the body which are inaccessible
to treatment.
The popular conception of a
cancer is that it is an open sore
which shows a tendency to in
crease in size and depth and
which does not yield to ordinary
methods of treatment.
Such a conception is erroneous;
sore may or may not be can
Ger and, when it is, it nay be
one of the simpler varieties that
can be cured by any one of sew
eral remedies. Probably so per
cent to rs per cent Ct the can
GERS advertised as cured by
quacks were never cancers.
The most serious cancers never
appear as external sores; conse-
duently, the popular idea ccnccrn-
ing them must be revised before
the death rate can be reduced.
unfortunately, early cancers dc
not causepain. Il they did, the
death rate could be materially
lowered in a few years; people
viii seek medical aid for pain,
while deadly disease that does
not cause pain. If they did, the
Since the earliest time the
composition of the body has been
an object of investigation by
scientific men. Hippocrates and
Galen taught that it was made up
of four fluids called humors
blended in definite proportions.
An excess of one or another of
the fluids caused disease; espe-
cially was this true of cancer.
The first quarter of the 18th
century had passed before the
true nature of animal tissue was
discovered and it was demonstrat-
ed that the body as a whole was
made of separate units called
cells, just as building is made
up of separate units-brlck,
stones, etc.
All the tissues of the body arise
from a single cell called an ovum,
made capable of growth by fer
tilization.. Within few hours
after fertilization the ovum has
divided into a group of cells
which begin to assume different
shapes and tasks. To ore is as
signed the duty Of forming the
brain, to another the liver, and
to another the heart, ard 10 on
until every cell is employed, They
work in harmony under a law es-
tablished by Nature. Each or
gan assumes a definite size and
shape and il prepared to perform.
definite function, so that at
birth the completed body is pre-
scented to the world with all the
characteristics of the species to
which the primitive cells belonged
and many of the peculiarities of
the parents from which they
sprung" In the unborn, or en-
bryonic body, cell development
is rapid and is characterized by
certain peculiarities, many of
which are found in cancer cells.
A knowledge of the above facts
is necessary before we can UNI
derstand that (1) a cancer is
simply new growth of cell arts
ing from some organ or part of
the body; ~ the cells of which
this new growth is composed
have reverted to the embryonic
type; CD they have lost their re-
lation to the laws of Nature, so
that (4) they grow wildly into
? the surrounding structure, pene-
trate the veins and lymph yes
! sells, and are carried to distant
parts of the body, forming sec
opdary growth (metastases) and
60 they produce toxin or poi
SON which destroys the life Of
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