AMERICAN OPINIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1926, Page 7

AMERICAN OPINIONS.

SMOKING AND COSMETICS. ILL EFFECTS ON WOMEN. NO CANCER CURE. San Francisco, Jv.r.c 8. Ravages wrought by excessive smoking and cosmetics on the .respiratory apparatus of young girls and women of America to-day were described by a leading ear, throat and nose specialist, Dr. Wolff. Freudenthal,, M.D., of NewYork Citv, in an address given at the opening of the American Laryngoiogical, Rhinological and Otalogical Society held in Montreal, and addressing 161 ear, throat and nose specialists gathered in the Canadian, city from all parts of Canadian and the United States on ‘ Tobacco, Alcohol and Cosmetics from a Laryngeal Point of View,” Dr. Freudenthal pointed out, among other tilings, the dangerous path which young gi‘«» are treading to-day by excessive smoking and- the prevailing craze for cosmetics. ’« Attacking first -smoking, Dr. Ireudenthal said: T have observed during the past few years, especially in young girls and women, the ill-effects of smoking. It afreets the upper and lower air tract, and also the throat, very seriously. One woman patient who came to me had to get up in the night to get a -puff,’ bo great had the craving become. Excessive smoking is bad for men and women, but especially for women, because the linings of the throat and nose are so much more delicate than those of men, especially at certain times.” Cosmetics also were denounced by Dr. Freudenthal. ‘’They affect the nose, and throat, irritating the membranes,” he declared. ‘'They may cause vaso-motbr rhinits. Some cosmetics are unadulterated, but they also do harm to some extent by irritating membranes. “I have seen cases of supposed hay fever, which have not been hay fever at all, but have been caused by the irritation of the eyes, nose and mouth by cosmetics. Some eases of asthma also come into this category. I have no great word for cosmetics. They destroy the complexion and any woman and injure the membranes.” ALCOHOL USEFUL SOMETIMES. Alcohol in excess was bad for the throat and breathing apparatus, the speaker maintained, but he favoured its use medicinally in certain cases. “I consider alcohol in the wasting diseases, such as tuberculosis and diabetes, very helpful,” he said. “It counteracts the waste of tissue. In this I agree with Professor Ernest Starlings, of London, England, a first authority on physiology.” But Dr. Freudenthal denounced prohibition, and cited several evil effects of the measure, saying, inter alia, that “morals of young girls in the United States were being spoiled through prohibition. Formerly,” he said, “a young girl never touched whisky. Now she drinks with the boys. , Prohibition is not preventing the ills of alcohol, because you can get it if you have the money. The only way to *- prevent drunkeness is to educate the people, in tht churches, the schools and the homes. ' SURGERY FOR CANCER. Progress towards finding a cure for cancer and the necessity of educating the public to the fact that no sure cure has yet been found was discussed at the session of the National Health Congress held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the subject being deftly handled by Dr. Francis Carter Wood. Dr. Wood, who is director of cancer research at Columbia University, New York, and vice-president of the Society for tlie Control of Cancer, denounced unethical methods of doctors who claimed to have certain cures. Until the public realised the cure, for this disease had not been found, he said, one of the preliminary steps to finding a cure will still be lacking. He told his. hearers that lack of any “simple 'and certain method of" diagnosis” at a stage When surgery could remove the cancerous growth, complicated the situation caused by public ignorance of the disease. He pronounced surgery “the only effective means of treating most types of internal cancer,” He said “professional optimism” regrading the. curative value of radium and the X-ray was not warranted. While these methods would allay symptoms and delay the progress of cancer, lie added, they did not furnish permanent cures except in cases of skin cancer and cancer of the cervix of the uterus. “It is a safe rule,” he said, in discussing cancer cures, to say that when a physician guarantees to cure cancer and asks for a deposit in advance, lie is a quack.” TERRIBLE MORTALITY. More than 40,000 persons, niosr of them at, the period of the greatest usefulness, die needlessly of cancer in the United States annually. Dr, George A. Soper, managing director of the American Society for the Control of Cancer, told the American Health Congress at another session of that body in Atlantic City. lie base} this estimate on a statement by Dr.. Charles P. Cliiltle, British student of the cancer problem, that half of the deaths, from cancer among women and a-third of those aniong men are preventable. The old belief that, “nobody knows anything about cancer” he branked as false. “The information which exists today- in regard to cancer,” he said, “is not only more extensive, hut of far more practical value than many persons suppose.” He said it has beome fairly definitely established that cancer is not caused by a parasite, and that it is neither communicable nor hereditary, although a predisposition towards it may be inherited. The best way to ward off cancer, he asserted, is to prevent the chronic irritations which lead to it. “One should beware,” he added, “of the broken tooth or dental plate which continually irritates the gums, cheek or tongue; of the spectacles which make Hie head sore behind the ear, on the temples, or nose; of any sore that will not heal; or the mole or wart that changes in colour, size or appearance; of indigestion which will not stop and' cannot be explained; of any unusual and unnatural discharge from any part of the body, aJ!d of any lump which does not go away. 'When any one of these conditions occur, you should go at onee to a capable doctor, and do what he advises/