The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-01-12

DR.. Clendening VIII answer
questions Of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
instance, We can control pneumo-
MIA provided the pHblic is educated
10 get over its fear of cancer and
take proper steps for treatment
early enough.
The three great types of seri-
Gus disease are the infections, the
neoplasms (including cancer) and
the degenerations. A hundred and
fifty years ago the wisest doctors
in the world had them all confused
and were as helpless to control
any of them as a child alone on a
darkling heath.
Then, in 1898, came the an
nouncement of the control Of one
of the infections-smallpox. One
after the other the nature Of the
infections became clear - they
were due to this or the other kind
Of germ, they could be controlled
by one means or another. Only a
few are left which entirely escape
US. Best of all, most of them can
be controlled by Public Health Of
ficers. The public does not have
TO be educated painfully genera
ton after generation about puri-
flying the water supply to control
typhoid.
Cancer Control
The difficulty of the matter of
cancer control is that the educa-
ton Of the public must be wide
spread so that each afflicted per-
son will recognize the danger
enough to seek treatment that will
be successful. The nature of can
Ger is entirely different from the
infections. No germs are involved,
at least none have been identified,
and we cannot turn off some GEN.
trail force, like water pollution,
which will protect all possible VIC
tins.
The pamphlet on Cancer: A
Study for Laymen," prepared for
the Women's Field Army of the
American Society for the Control
of Cancer $3.50 Madison Avenue,
New York, New York; wisely, !
think. devotes a great deal Of its
space 70 the furda mental hiolooI-
cal nature Of the activities of the
cells Of the body. 1t would be diff
ficult for any layman to under
stand the nature of cancer and its
activities without some knowl-
edge Of biology and some grasp Of
what a living cell does.
Because the nature of the in
fections which, as / say, we have
almost conquered and Of the pro-
cess of Inflammation which is the
tissue change they cause, is fun
damentally different from the It's
sue changes Of cancer. In infam-
nation the body cells react to an
injury and the ultimate end of
their reaction is healing. In can
Ger the cells begin to multiply for
no known reason and there is no
element of healing in their inten-
tons; what they aim at is destruc-
ton.
Cells Multiply
II is in the nature of body cells
TO multiply. We each began as a
single cell and became full grown
organisms by the rapid multiple
cation and differentiation Of that
cell. But somewhere in the pro-
cess some tissue tension began so
that the process Of multiplication
was stopped. Some Of us got to be
five feet one and it stopped, and
some of US got to be six feet three
and it stopped.
This tissue tension, this tend
ency Of cell proliferation 70 stop
when it has fulfilled its function
is very mysterious. 1t is entirely
absent. in the cell multiplications
of cancer and that is what makes
cancer itself such a mystery, and
also such a problem.
There are certain places where
this cell multiplication is most
frequently likely TO start and also
the places where it is most readily
treated, and these places we can
all watch. One is the skin, and
particularly the exposed parts Of
the skin-the face, at the corners
of the lips, eyelids and the hands.
Any sore in these regions which
does not show tendency TO heal,
or weeps, or breaks open time
after time needs medical atten-
ton. Another is the breast, which
| will discuss in more detail to-
morrow. Another is the tongue.
Any long continued liberation on
the tongue needs medical advice.
In seeking this advice you are car
rying out the highest principles
of modern civilization.