CANCER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 292, 3 September 1908, Page 4

CANCER.

ITS PROBABLE INCREASE. % 'A MYSTERIOUS FOE. When tho annual report of-tho Health Deartment is presented to Parliament within ho next'fdw''tfays/' c it < <will 'doubtless contain l its usual reference to tho increasing ' mortality from cancer. Unless statistics '.lie,; file most droaded and mysterious enemy to, which flesh'is 'heir' has claimed its victims among tho human race in alarmingly increasing numbers during recent years.... Now and. then it,-has experienced a set back, but,-al-ways tfie, monster has advanced again ' be--yond its '''previous limits. The deaths from cancer per 10,000 persons living aro computed to havo rison from 6.40 in 1893 to 7.10 in 1903, and 7.33 in 1007. Tlio'tincrease. has been .noticed in New Zealand,' ns in all other civilised countries. ' Statistics - formu-_ lated by tho Registrar-General, which aro usually incorporated in the -Health;. Depart- ■; ment's report,' give.lthe -.following.particulars of the generarinCreSsO v ' " • ; Alarming ')' ■y/-: . Deaths, from;.. Cancer . , Percentage

The death-rates-..for . cancer 7 in ( v,Now: iZea-.-land in respect of sox arc given for each" of ten ytiars, selected to show the position as from lbß6 to 1907: — - ..

The increase in the numbors for the sexes, together for Englaud and Neiv .Zealand' is represented in ttio proportions below

statistics do not lie thero is rea- '. son'to belieVo th&V they; may'exaggerate. It is thought that a proportion of the.increase may bo accounted for by. more careftil certification- of the causes of death, and by improved diagnosis in cases of what is termed inaccessible; cancer. It is also pointed out that cancer is a disease which peculiarly affects the degenerative period.of life. The tendency of modern sanitation and enlightenment has been to prolong.Jif.o, ■ and"the"rerore to leavo more persons of tho advanced ago which cancer, "most .readily attacks. • It is i certain, however, .states itho .ReKistrar-G.eniJ; , eral, that out of a 'total-of 10,066 'deaths frdrri" all causes in Now Zealand during 1907, ,674, or 6.7o"per-'cent., '.were .'caused .by cancer. The death-rato from'this disease is not* so great as that from tubercular' complaints, but is nevertheless,.a most matter,, not only on account of tho number of..deaths, but because of its progres'siv'ei'incredse; origin Unoxplainad. •- Although?a'scientific crusade-against'fcan ;! cer is being waged in almost every civilised country, medical men have not yet .been able to discover how;, tho disease, is caused, or how it may be caired after it has passed the incipient,stage. In. connection with'tho Im-I porial Cancer: Re.search" Fund,"-in England, . searching .investigations ' aro conducted' with 1 , regard to.'-the economic, islimatioj- chemical,-! and other;.; aspects:"'; ofv'=tlie : " "disease,: all the;,- results .being'.'' coriij&itratijd'' by . the director, Dr. Bashford, who, is endeavouring to 'find .ther:.'incansi. by-.-which cancer is spread, and with-that object examines specimens ;of - cancerous growth .forwarded from--all .parts of) world, "it, In 'America there are■'several'' institution's for 'the' specialised, study of . • cancer., in all- -its branches, and most Vof the' countries "of Europe - have similar 'organisations. Dr. Mason, Chief Health Officer/who has given some .interesting information on this subject to ; a 1; Dominion- ..representative, 'states • that thore aro several theories, all '.' lini proved, as to the, origin of .cancer., According to-one school bf thought; it'is a'parasite 'or organism;- but ".no organism; has 1 : yet : been isolated. --Another. school .ascribes its- Origin I to the inclusion.of one kind of :tissue':in'tbo! midst of another.' The suggestion,,'is .that, some of these included tissues arc foetal types ; and as-the individual grows' up ■ arid tho tissue, which, surrounds tho -.primitive;, in-' eluded .part;- grows'. and 'develops; l ''tho included tissue does'-'-iiot respond ! in ; tlio -samo" way, arid'so tho disease is formed.' Tho old J idea of a ! special cancer cell has long been dispelled. . • '» -Quack Remedies. ■ ■ Professed cures for cancer aro always being put. forward,'- but . none' of them have satisfactorily withstood exacting. teats. " Many of tho great army of quacks asserti that they. can. they aro all ; liars," was tho blunt - statement • ofDr: Mason. Tho majority of so-called cancer cures, ho explained, depend on the use. of • somo irritant or caustic, and. in sonio .instances there is no doubt that superficial,, cancors.havo.bee'n'rempyed i^this-w.ay.' One' of the'most common irritant's used' by quacks is a mixture of arsenious acid and somo unguent' that'will hold'togetherr This is put on the sore, and its effect is to eat away tho growth by chemical action. Every now and then, the doctor-stated,, irritant is " re-discoyer'ed.■' 'Thio : great''dairw ger is that not. but tho 'healthy tissue "will be burned,"'arid it is iniich 6afer and easier to use the knife. Prompt surgical removal of /tho"'growth,' at 'aiivearly" stago of the disease,* is; certain curd for cancer, Dr. Mason declares. -The danger is that unless the cancer is- situated in some, obvious place, such .as tho lip, or nose, or ear, it may go for a long time disregarded, tho inconvenience caused boihg not sufficient to .induce the patient to ; tako medical adVice. . ■>

We havo a fair; right to look. forward'-to a shooting season very , much above the •.'average. It does not matter which'.particular kind of game-bird we regard,"nor does', it matter 1 in which drection iwo look; in every patt.of'.England and Scotland- arid. in : rospcct;:6f every species tho story is very much'tho same, and a very good story it is.-r^Tfouhfry^iifo.'JS So long as any allowed to ply for hiro wherever its owners please to go, and at any . pace' thoy may find convenient, it is idle .' to looli tfor sensiblo improvement. Tho '■ratepayers; of London have spent enormous'sums' in reducing noiso in the streets by laying'down expensive wood pavement; and the Hpirio .Ofiicb coolly-saddles them with noise loxldeiy, .more car-piercing, and more lieryc-shattbriiigthan that from which they havi) jredoerned' themselves. Wo •' spend vast sums-upon"sanitation, and then the Home Office' licenses' jthitfgs tnat fill our streets and houses with.'^'.poisonous--./and nauseating stinks. We nUihe'rftis and street shelters; to secure the safety of citiiens, and ' then''tho*"Homo Office lots loose A upon "bs' : vehicles which set .tho. rule,.of and raoo one another \Wth6nt 'rtgaM"'td 't¥b general safety.— I '^Timcs."'."V" "Just for ithe.day I'll be away," ' Remarked ;his wife last Saturday. "If every 'dog must havo .his day,'.: Then why not .every-cat her day?./ -, •'O.. ; I'll takei Woods' Great Peppermint. Cure, Because that's; indispensable,; • ■ And ma -will- 8° V.' 1 lou ought';to .think .that's:sensible 1"' • (Ho dial) .... ig

• per -10,000 of Total of Living Deaths-due.; Year. : : v Persons. ... _ to Cancer.; •1898 ...';'C»;-i0 6.50;-.t'. 1899 J,6:24 '' . 6.-09-' 1900 ... 5iG3 . 5.97 <■-.< 1901 ... ... 6.62 6.75. 1902 ''... ... 6.72 6.40 1903 ... -... 7.10 6.82 1904 ... .... 6.76 . 7.06 1905 ...' " ... 6.51 . : ■ : ': 7.02 ... 1906 ..." ... 6.96' " '7.47 " 1907 .... ... 7.33 6.70*VP

Year. Males. Females. •1886 ... 3.69 3.G7 ' 1890 ... ... ... .4.72 ... . 4.79 • • . 1894 ...■ 6.65:, •; 5.27 1S98 ... ... ... 6.77 ; 5.9S 1901 ' ... ... • Li. 6.48 6.77 1903 '7.S1 6.63 . . 1904 ... ... " ... 7.23 : 6.23 1905 ... '... ... 6.79 6.18 1906 ... ■ 7.10 6.79 1907 ... - ... ... 7.41 .7.25 ;

. Year. X.J5. England. . 1881 ... . .... '.... 2.69 5.20 1886'" ' .''w : " '3.G3 . ' 5.90 1891 ... 4.G8, G.92 .1896 ... ...... . ... .5.50 , 7.64 , - -1900 . "... 5.63 8.28 ' ' 1905 ... ... ... 6.51 8.85 1903 ... 6.96 9.17