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59
Owing to this indefinite nature of alcoholism, prophylactic and
legislative measures have proved to be inadequate and success
from the dissemination of relevant information has been disappointingly
limited. Better results seem to accrue from the direct
personal approach. Complete abolition of alcoholic beverages, even
if it were desirable, is unattainable but if people could be taught
not to deviate from the country's average consumption per head
then alcoholism could be prevented in a way which would satisfy
both the brewing industry and the tax collector.
Cancer
Malignancy is not a modern phenomenon. Reference to it is
made in Hindu Poetry about 2,000 B.C. Egyptian burial remains of
5,000 B.C. show evidence of it and fossilised dinosaurs of 80
million years ago are said to exhibit signs of the disease.
However, there is no doubt that cancer is, and always has been,
an extremely emotive word which conjures up in the minds of
many people feelings of disgust, horror and despondency, probably
in that order. Disgust because, in an illiberal society, much of the
disease tends to be associated with organs of sex and excretion;
horror from thoughts of mutilating surgery and despondency
resulting from the mistaken belief that a fatal outcome is
inevitable.
Persistence of the "killer" image of cancer is perhaps responsible
for some of the increase in deaths from this disease for it leads to
a reluctance to report symptoms early enough to enable effective
treatment to be instituted.
Investigations have shown that there is a tendency for cancer,
as a cause of death, to be over-estimated. Notwithstanding the
publicity afforded coronary thrombosis, malignancy causes greater
alarm than heart disease and many people still hold the erroneous
view that cancer is responsible for more deaths than any other
disease.
A much more optimistic attitude needs to be fostered. This
could be achieved by stressing the fact that (a) over 25,000 persons
are cured of malignant disease every year; (b) a further 10,000
lives would probably be saved by earlier diagnosis and treatment
and (c) with suitable education and enlightenment a widely held
view that cancer is incurable could be overcome.
It is undeniable that cancer is a reversible process because there
is a small but significant number of cases where advanced and
metastasising carcinomas have spontaneously disappeared. Such
chance recoveries should be subject to close investigation for they
would appear to support the theory of the development, under
certain conditions, of antibodies in an "immunising" process.