Document wgd9kXEOkMVnOqk084bpMqQbd

FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1952 DOC NMA116 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Chicago Daily Tribune - How to Keep Well HOW TO KEEP WELL Theodore R Van Dellen Chicago Daily Tribune 1872-1963 Jan 21 1952 ProQuest Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune 1849-1985 1849-1985 1849-1985 WE TO KL EEP WL ELL WELL ||. Theodore R.Van Dellen | To limit pertaining to disease will be of space questions the prevention of answered Person- al replies will be made when re- turn stamped envelope is inclosed Telephone inquiries Dr. Van Dellen will not not accepted make di- agnoses or prescribe ual diseases for individ- HEAVY SMOKING AND LUNG CANCER Copyright 1952 By The Chicago Tribune ANCER of the lung continues C on the increase It now is the second most common malignancy in males and in some institutions has passed cancer of the stom- ach to take first place For the more mistic optiside of the pic- ture more than 90 per cent cases of the can be diagnosed before it is too late and modern surgery has proved most Altho the successful cause is not known Inany theories have been ad- vanced Cigarets are the main target and logically so because the disease is more prevalent in men and is on the rise as is the consumption of tobacco Absolute proof is lacking but many physi- cians are dogmatic about smoking as the cause and offer evidence that is extremely convincing Dr. Evarts A. Graham of St. Louis led the fight in this direction Most of their conclusions stem from a study of the smoking habits of 684 persons with lung cancers These patients came from all parts of the country and all social and economic classes _ Of the 605 male victims of the disease 96.5 per cent had smoked more than half package of cigarets daily for more than 20 years This compares with 780 men or 73.7 per cent in the same age group without lung cancer who had smoked as much as the men with cancer The difference| is not great but demonstrates the difficulty of making a statistical study of this kind because smok- ing is so prevalent in this country On the other hand the figures be- come a little more convincing more than a pack a day has when been used for at least 30 years Of the cancer group 51.2 per cent fell into this category compared with 19.1 per cent of the controls But not every one with cancer was a smoker 2 per cent abstained com- pletely or smoked less than a half pack a day No attempt was made to classify the victims as to pipe ing cigar and cigaret smok- Women do not smoke as much as men and it often is stated that this is the reason why cancer of the lung is Numerous more common in men studies along this line have given inconclusive results There is no agreement on the ratio of men to women smokers or men to women cancer victims Graham concludes however that a correlation seems to exist be- tween heavy smoking over a long period and cancer of the lung The answer will not be forthcoming until it becomes possible to pro- duce cancer experimentally from some or all of the products con- tained in cigaret smoke Mean- | while the problem remains an in- | dividual one and each person must be his own judge - Other irritants also have been incriminated but without These include industrial proof dusts from chromates asbestos tar radioactive and many gases and dusts nickel others Gasoline and oil fuines belong in the same category The bronchitis associ- ated with the influenza pandemic of 1917-18 has been entered as 8 contender This is understandable because the epidemic has been blamed for every other human ill so why not lung cancer Ample studies have disproved this belief the age group and the sex ratio are not in keeping with the con- tention For the time being it is wise for all the of us to be on the lookout for disease ray is in order whenever an unusual cough de- velops or theri e s pain in the chest that fails to disappear with- | in a reasonable length of time The same can be said when blood appears in the sputum or unex- plained fever exists TOMORROW causes wholesale The mighty itching mite FLUORIDATED WATER | B. T. writes Is it safe for a grownup to drink water to which | fluoride has been added to prevent cavity in children's teeth REPLY Yes provided the usual tration of the chemical exceeded - concen is not | ENLARGED HEART M. S. writes Is any operation possible for an enlarged heart My father has this condition REPLY I doubt it but why not ask your father's physician whether the con- dition causing the enlargement can be changed thru surgery -- STONE SQUATTERS | N. J. writes Could a person go thru life with gallstones without having to be operated on REPLY Yes and many persons do Autop- || || sy studies have demonstrated the presence of gallstones in many in- dividuals who were unaware of the condition on ARTHRITIS AND DIARRHEA L. Z. writes Are frequent tacks of diarrhea common in atar- thritis No but REPLY certain arthritic | med- ications may cause diarrhea | Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission