DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 266, 31 January 1928, Page 5

DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

CANCER - (Copyright, 1928) RANGER is the greatest scourge of our day. At the American Public Health Association the other day it was stated that one person in five of the men and women now living in the United States, between the ages of 45 and 65, will die of cancer, and that one in ten of all ages will so die. Cancer is a mysterious disease and is baffling to the medical profession. It is not incurable if it is taken in its earlier stages. It is not necessarily fatal any more than is a wound from a splinter. The experts in health, while they may not be able to cure the disease in its advanced stages, have made much progress in preventing the disease. The public should be informed. They should be careful to watch for the danger signals and consult a physician. Any lump, especially In the breast, or any irregular bleeding or discharge or loss of weight or indigestion should be promptly attended to. It should be recognised that the services of the medical practitioner should be made use of quite as much for prevention as for cure of the disease. Some 300,000 people are reported to have died from cancer in a year and this number is probably not fifty per cent, of the total. As many men die from the trouble whose deaths are ascribed to some other cause. It is not contagious or infectious, nor is It due to a specific parasite. No food or article of clothing, as far as we know, causes it. It is a disease peculiar to old age. It emphasises the fact that we should all take pains to be examined once a year or so. It is not well to be thinking of one’s health all the time, as such morbid thoughts cause disease. But it is well to be examined carefully and see tha. we are all right, and then forget it. r'ii tt. y rr. rl~ -j- ,vr tt. ri* rir Krh rr riY7; : rr. rr rr~rfclr r r tt. rf -4- * * >jj