Cancer: Its Cause and Treatment, Volume 2 (of 2)

by Lucius Duncan Bulkley

Moreover, it is reported from several reliable sources that the death rate from cancer in many cities is proportionately greater among the rich and those in easy circumstances than among the poor, wage-earning element of society. This would seem to show that occupation in general acts favorably against the development of cancer. This fact is quite understandable when we consider that those engaged in active work are less liable to suffer from the effects of gluttony and indolence, with their concurrent metabolic disturbances, than the well-to-do with ease and luxurious habits. It is remarkable, however, that in asylums, homes for the aged, prisons, convents, monasteries, etc., where the inmates are relatively unoccupied, many writers confirm the fact that cancer is very seldom seen; but this again is explained by the simple and frugal diet enforced, with very little meat, which agrees with our thesis.

Statistics from life insurance companies show that cancer is decidedly more common among persons of over-weight than among under-weights.

In regard to the occupations of those dying from cancer it is interesting to note that standing among the highest per 100,000 population, in English statistics, come brewers, inn-keepers, and butchers, whose metabolism can be greatly disturbed by alcohol and meat; also indoor servants are more apt to be affected, while those of more or less sedentary occupation, such as school teachers, clergymen, physicians, and tailors, likewise stand very high on several lists. On the other hand, those engaged in active physical exercise, such as miners, farm laborers, carpenters, blacksmith, mail-carriers, and others, are among those least frequently attacked.

Race.—Cancer has been observed in every race, though the proportion of cases is observed to vary greatly among different peoples; but it is interesting to note that it is universally agreed by those that have studied the subject that the difference in frequency relates very largely to the degree of civilization involved. The blond Nordic race, however, seems to be more susceptible to the disease than the darker races, originally of Asiatic origin; and it is the former who have pushed forward modern civilization, with all its errors of life.

Thus cancer is everywhere reported to be rare, and sometimes almost absent, in primitive, uncivilized peoples, but it has been repeatedly observed, in many localities, that as these same people mix with Europeans and adopt their diet and mode of life, cancer is sure to increase, until its frequency often about equals that in their highly civilized neighbors. I went over this matter pretty fully in my former lectures and cannot dwell on it now, or give examples. I can only emphasize the fact that this furnishes a strong support to the contention that cancer depends upon disorders of metabolism, which are certainly increasing under the various elements which compose what is called advanced civilization.

Climate and Locality.—There is no evidence to prove that climate has any influence in the production of cancer, nor is it affected by locality; the disease occurs in hot, warm, temperate, and cold climates, and in every possible location on the earth. But it is undoubtedly most prevalent in temperate regions, for the reason that it is in these that modern civilization, with all its faults and foibles, is most highly developed.

The subject of the topical distribution of cancer, or its occurrence in certain regions, has been the subject of much controversy in England and France especially, and to read certain statements one would be inclined to believe that certain telluric conditions were of influence in its production, as along certain water courses, etc. But a more careful analysis of all these statements shows that such elements can act only as contributing causes, as, for instance, through a rheumatic influence, which is known to be found in so many cancer patients.

The same may be said in regard to so-called “cancer houses” concerning which there are still occasional references. A careful investigation of these houses has commonly found them to be old, moldy, damp, badly ventilated, and otherwise unsanitary; also that such old houses are commonly tenanted by old people in succession, so that there are more at a cancer age to be affected. With our present knowledge of the causes which lead up to cancer we cannot but conclude, therefore, that the occurrence of the disease in groups, with some apparent connection, has been only the result of all living under the same conditions of ill health, including wrong diet, etc.; for we know that cancer is not contagious or infectious, and there is no other reasonable explanation which can be sustained.

Food and Mode of Life.—In my former lectures I presented very fully the evidence that cancer was certainly a disease of civilization, its frequency and mortality advancing steadily in proportion as various tribes or peoples, previously exempt, have come more or less under its influence and adopted its manners and customs.

When we speak, therefore, of the influence of food in the production of cancer it must be understood that it is not claimed that the diseased process depends wholly and exclusively on the character of the food, including drink, taken. In my former lectures I tried to show that cancer was the result of a deranged nutrition, and we know that one of the greatest elements in inducing this latter is erroneous metabolism, depending again on the diet, to a very great extent. In a later lecture I shall hope to develop this subject further, and indicate more completely than on the previous occasion, the elements of causation and the measures which can be successful in overcoming the disease.