CAUSE AND CUBE OF CANCER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 185, 4 August 1923, Page 14

CAUSE AND CUBE OF CANCER.

I (Xβ lie-Editor.) Sir,—The resolution passed by the Cancer Congress at Strasbourg, ss reported in jour issue of 31st, July, only ehowe how much at sea the medical snd scientific experts are in their researches into the causes of cancer. It reads almost like, burlesque to suggest .that this frightful disease may be caused by eating raw fruits and vegetables, possibly contaminated 'by manure. It is. almost as absurd as the theory that cancer* is a vegetable growth,' because at one stage it presents the appearance, of a cauliflower! Or (this I only heard advanced in joke) that the disease was caused by eating tomatoes, because of the resemblance of its symtoms to that healthful description of diet! Why, medical and health authorities continually assure us that we cannot-eat too much of raw fruits and vegetables—that, in short, a large proportion of the diseases that afflict humanity are the result of the lack of vitamines so largely present in such food. To drive people from eating raw fruits and vegetables, lest they contract cancer, seems to mc to be almost criminal. The congress is doubtless on the right track in trying to trace the genesis of cancer to errors of diet; but, palpably, these errors to-day are in the direction of eating too little raw products, and too many of the- cooked or over refined description. In Ghristchurch, the other day, the hospital authorities bed under discussion the alarming spread lof cancer in New Zealand, and one medical man expressed the opinion that the scourge was "making New Zealand a terrible place to live in." It was pointed out that cancer is a. disease peculiar to civilisation. So-called aavages, living naturally and eating natural food, never suffer from cancer or tumours and it is also noticeable that cancer is more prevalent in our cities that in the country districts; and presumably country residents consume more raw fruits and vegetables than do city dwellers. My personal opinion (as an observer, not as an expert) is that meateating two or three times a day is the chief cause of cancer, but in Christchurch it was contended that tea-drink-ing, and eating bread made. of white flour instead of whole-meal, were fruitful causes of this terrible disease. Aβ for the cure of this complaint, I am informed by one who has had experience of it that there is no better treatment than prolonged fasting. The relief afforded by a fast of several weeks is so marked as to suggest that our ordinary diet is a predisposing cause of cancer. In one case that my informant had observed, a "cauliflower* , as big as one's net shrank away and almost completely disappeared as the result of several weeks' abstinence from food. I know a gentleman in Auckland who once fasted for forty days, and by that means got rid of a deadly disease (not cancer). Writing from personal experience, I believe I added 43 years to my life by fasting for two weeks when in a critical state of health and "given np" by the doctors. Correct dieting is, I have not the slightest doubt, the best mean* of preventing such diseases as cancer; but, though everyone-admits that "prevention is better than cure," how few are willing to apply the rule to their personal habits." A-return to commonsense and natural food is sadly needed —I am, etc., ' . . * J. LWDELL KSUJxY