"STRATFORD EVENING POST" FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1928. CURES FOR CANCER.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 86, 6 July 1928, Page 4

"STRATFORD EVENING POST" FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1928. CURES FOR CANCER.

MANY indeed are. the cancer cures which have been "discovered" from time to time, and although the majority of them have proved 1 td he worth nothing on investigation, suffering humanity, seeking relief from a dreaded scourge as a drowning man seeks salvation by grasping at «. straw has been buoyed up by false hopes'which too often are doomed to he dashed to the ground. An unfortunate feature is that though some of the discoveries of the "cures" have been actuated by the highest of

motives, others again are well within the category of qulicks, and have reaped a golden harvest by exploiting the sufferings of those afflicted with '•the dread malady and whose eases in some instances have been made worse by 'the taking of harmful "remedies." However, we are not concerned at present with the efforts of charlatans, but with, the works of those who .seek to find a remedy and whose motives are beyond question. O'ne of these wag a. Mr Field, of Auckland, who thought he was on .the right track and who was anxious t 0 have his treatment carried out, not by himself, but by the medical professionra sure enough proof of his bona fides. He induced the Auckland Hosp pital Board to give his method a trial, and the publicity attendant, upon the discussion of the matter at the Board table keyed the hopes of sufferers up to a high pitch. Unfortunately the committee of doctors who tested it were not able to report! favourably upon it. Now another gentleman appears in the person of a Mr Hood, of Auckland, with whom is associated Dr. Dukes, who is prepared to examine patients before and after the Hood! treatment. Tin's medical gentleman is at loggerheads with the B.M.A. since some trouble arose regarding the efficacy of his claimed cure for infl.mtile paralysis, and it is suggested there may be: action taken by the B.M.A. in regard t 0 his association in the treatment of cancer with an unqualified man. We do not know what action is proposed (if any), nor do we know upon what grounds it will be taken, but on the iUce of it it seems unreasonable to prohibit a doctor from, being in association with a layman, provided, of course, there is nothing questionable in the methods used. It must not be forgotten that many important medical discoveries have been made by laymen. On the other hand, the B.M.A. is not as some people seem to imagine, an unreasonable body. Its one desire is to keep thei profession on a high plane, and protect the sick and suffering, and there is certainly 1 room for .the opinion that the association would not ignore the claims of » layman provided the suggested cure was really a cure. Doctors di&'covering (a, remedy do not patent it and keep it to themselves for money making purposes. They pass it on j at conferences to their confreres for the benefit of sufferers. As far • as cancer research lis concerned there has been so much shattering of hopes in the past, that it would seem advisable to keep research 'operations secret until results justified! publication.