By Dr. H.L. Baker, Lebanon, Ind.
Cancer has previously been regarded largely and almost wholly from its histological and surgical aspects. But relatively little attention has been paid to the dietetic and medical aspects of this most threatening malady, although voices have been raised, from time to time, with more or less force, claiming that the disease is constitutional, and that it depends largely on diet and mode of life.
Because this paper is supposed to deal solely with the treatment of cancer I trust you will pardon me if we digress for a moment and take up the cause of this fearsome disease.
Cancer is undoubtedly a diseased action of originally normal tissue cells, due largely to perverted metabolism, and this perverted metabolism is brought about by a bad blood stream. I desire, first, to call your attention to intestinal stasis as the incentive of auto-toxemia and then to point out the intimate relation between auto-intoxication and cancer, and not only cancer, but also those diseases that have been described as being due to the presence of uric acid in the blood. Cancer is only a product depending upon intestinal stasis (constipation) for its existence, especially when that is associated with a highly nitrogenous diet, the fermentation of which in the colon poduces toxines of the most virulent description, which, also, invariably tend to promote constipation. Now it is impossible to have toxemia persisting for any length of time without the metabolism of every cell of the body becoming prejudicially affected, and consequently the thyroid and other blood glands are rendered incapable of exerting their salutary influence upon the blood stream.
An equally important prejudicial effect is that upon the intestinal canal itself, the muscular fiver of which becomes enfeebled and peristalsis, as a consequence, ceases to be efficient, with the inevitable result that intestinal stasis supervenes with its increasingly disastrous result upon the character of the blood and, through it, upon every tissue.
(There are three organs of the body- the heart, lungs and intestines – which must be kept in involuntary, yet constant movement if health is to be maintained.)
In direct consequence the physiological control over cell-life ceases, this being replaced by a condition of things which is not only antagonistic to healthy metabolism, but has succeeded in extinguishing that vitalizing influence which hitherto had been so characteristic of healthy cell life.
Is it to be wondered, then, seeing a suitable soil for an unhealthy development and growth of any perverted cell having been provided and maintained, that morbid conditions supplant those of the normal?
Cancer is a disease consequent upon the toxic condition of the blood, which has existed with little or no intermission during a prolonged period, the consequence being normal metabolism has become so seriously interfered with that in any part which has been weakened by an injury or persistent irritation this has been supplanted altogether and been replaced by cell metamorphosis, the cells in that region thereby being converted from enfeebled normal cells into a malignant neoplasm completely disassociated from physiological control. Such being the case, the new growth has ceased to exist as a portion of the human body, which has taken root upon the subtenant tissue. Now this could not possibly have been accomplished had its environment been possessed of the normal resisting power of the disease which every cell possesses when it is being nourished by a healthy blood stream.
It must be conceded, then, that before cancer is able to manifest its presence a suitable soil has been provided for its reception and subsequent growth and that the rational method of inhibiting its development and effection its destruction is to render the soil unsuitable to its existence.
TREATMENT OF CANCER
We will now take up the treatment of cancer. To me there is no other study in the practice of medicine so pleasing or gratifying as the treatment of cancer with medicine and diet, for in the treatment of such a disease you are put on your metal, because it is the worst disease that afflicts humanity and one which demands the very best that is in you. I know that there is a great deal of discussion as to the real causation of cancer, and the question never may be settled beyond the point where a difference of opinion will not obtain. Skin cancer, epithelioma, is but one form of cancer, and in speaking of skin cancer it is as well to include all cancers as just one form, and the treatment of epithelioma must necessarily, of course, apply largely to the treatment of all cancers.
There is such a consensus of opinion as to the advisability of early removal of the neoplasm that a discussion of the subject would seem useless. So then, in the first place, let us remove the tumor, and thoroughly. But after we have done so, after we have taken it out by the very roots, is this sufficient? No. We must then adopt the means to prevent a second development. We must change the diathesis; we must seek to modify the patient’s constitution so that it no longer will be prone to reproduce the disease.
When nature, by her own efforts, effects a cure of cancer – which we know occasionally takes place – this is not accomplished by any local application, but by the disease-resisting power of the cells of the body becoming re-established, and this can only be effected by the blood stream becoming, by its improved condition, competent to supply invigorating pabulum to the various tissues which have been handicapped previously by being compelled to rely upon a vitiated substitute for this.
The food that we eat, and our mode of living, make us for good or bad, that no one can deny, and therefore in the fight against disease. Especially such a disease as cancer, we must correct errors of diet and living looking towards the making of a more perfect working organism. It is useless to give medicines or to use surgery, or any local treatment, without due consideration is given the diet, mode of living, and the general condition of the patient.
When a case of cancer presents itself remember that you are going to contend with a patient who is afflicted with cancer – in other words, treat the patient and, at the same time, but secondly, get the disease. Get all the facts in the case, not missing a single detail; read the pulse, eye and tongue; examine the urine for excessive acidity or alkalinity; observe if the patient is well nourished; inquire as to skin disease, vaccination, syphilis or gonorrhoea. In treating a case of cancer you must expect to cover the entire field of disease, for it touches all phases of abnormality that afflicts the race.
The pulse of a cancer patient is weak, often a discouraged feeling to it, and it is quicker than normal. Does the heart beat regular, or does it intermit? The tongue under its yellowish, white color shows, in advanced cancer, a dark, red color; in the last stage, we have the “beef steak” tongue. The white of the eye has a pearly tint, with greenish yellow spots, showing a drain upon the system, toxic matter in the blood and decomposition of albumen. The eyes will tell you if the glands are acting normally or not. The tongue shows you whether the patient is digesting his food or not; if he does not digest his food. He cannot make good blood. The pulse tells you whether the vital forces are strong or weak.
The most powerful antiseptic in the pharmacopoeia will not prevent bacteria establishing themselves in a wound, and it is only the independent action of the vital energy of the cellular tissue which prevents infection and promotes healing. Man is engaged in a perpetual struggle with the germs of disease. This finding access to his body by various channels, and it is only the healthy vitality of the cells opposed to these which enables him to withstand infection. Now, this healthy vitality can only be assured by supplying the cellular tissues freely with pabulum, derived from vital elements contained in the products of the vegetable kingdom, to which may be added milk, eggs and cheese. This wonderful vitalizing agent is essentially nucleon and it has recently been demonstrated by actual experiment that all fruits and seeds also, contain radio-active elements when in an uncooked condition. Thus we perceive that the products of the vegetable kingdom, when ripe – which means they are sufficiently cooked by the sun – should constitute our main food supply, seeing these, and these only, satisfy all our physiological necessities, and moreover are in complete harmony with the functional arrangements of our digestive apparatus. Why, then, do we systematically overload the stomach with an amount of DEAD matter which it was never intended to receive and which it is impossible for it to utilize with advantage and, moreover from which the most important constituent has been removed?
Fruit juices undoubtedly are possessed of medicinal as well as nutritive properties. Who is not acquainted with the digestive properties of the juice of grape fruit, pineapple and pawpaw; the laxative effects of figs and prunes, and the anti-rheumatic effects of apples and celery. Uncooked fruits have the advantage over those which have been cooked, in the their abundant salts, such as iron, potash and calcium, which are there in organic combination are thus fully appropriated by the blood and have a marvelously beneficent effect upon the quality of this fluid. They supply to the blood just those elements necessary to neutralize the acid contents of the tissue cells, which, unless so acted upon, would destroy these cells. Now this alkali is supplied in the most acceptable form by the salts of fruit when partaken of in their natural condition. Such, however, is not the case when the fruit is cooked. Dried fruits are also excellent articles of diet, but these should always be thoroughly washed before being brought to the table, for sanitary reasons. These are not only nutritious, but laxative in their nature, and hence are of considerable help where there is a tendency to constipation. They, however, do not contain any of the important acids which are present in their fresh state, and undergo, in the process of digestion, a transformation into alkaline carbonates, which keep the blood alkaline, stimulate the liver cells, regulate the bowels, tending also to keep them aseptic, and entering the blood stream, bathe and refresh every cell of the body in a cleansing, vitalizing fluid of the best and purest description.
You cannot have a hair, a nail, or the enamel on the tooth without silica, and this salt comes largely from the hulls of cereals; a bone cell without the phosphate of lime, or a drop of blood without the phosphate of iron. The inorganic salts are the vital elements of the body, the builders, and the workers and, when deficiency occurs in any one of them, the perfect chemistry of the living organism is disturbed. Nature supplies these mineral salts in abundance for all our needs, but the manufacturer, either through his greed for profit, ignorance, or an appeal to our vanity, robs many articles of our daily food of nearly all these mineral salts. For instance, the grain of wheat contains about 5 per cent. Of these necessary and vital mineral salts, but the best refined flour contains less then ½ of 1 per cent.; the unpolished grain of rice, I have read, contains between 6 and 7 per cent. Of mineral salts, while the polished rice, which we buy at all the groceries, contains less than 1 per cent.; brown sugar, nearly 4 per sent; the refined granulated sugar, less than 1 per cent. Many other foods subjected to bleaching and refining processes are likewise robbed of vital elements needed in the body chemistry.
Internally, I give Phytolacca, because it contains, I have read more of the natural mineral phosphates in a form that is readily assimilated than any other plant that has yet been analyzed. Phytolacca is also the greats glandular alternative known, and many neoplasms originate in a gland. When a certain salt is needed or indicated, I give it in the form known as “Tissue Remedies.” Thyroid gland, also, has given me some results. Double Sulphide, as prepared by Burgess, is an excellent remedy to furnish calcium to the system and to act as an antiseptic. Nucalcide, a preparation made by Aulde, of Philadelphia, composed of nuclein and calcium sulphide, is indeed, a most pleasing therapeutic agent because of furnishing nuclein and calcium salts at the same time. Strychnia sulphide, 1/30 grain, before meals and on retiring, is needed if the pulse is discouraged and weak.
The local treatment will depend on where the epithelioma is located, for a skin cancer located inside the mouth would have to be treated with a medicine in one form, and a cancer of the face, not treated with a medicine in one form, and a cancer of the face, not located near the eye, or on the hand, would have to be treated with another medicine.
I have tried all the medicines suggested or thought of in the local treatment of epitheliomas, and have found many of them to be valueless, and others to be positively harmful. A remedy must be selected that when applied directly to the epithelioma will create sufficient inflammation to destroy the cancer cells, and while inflaming the surrounding healthy tissue, will not cause their destruction. By inflaming the healthy tissues surrounding the cancer the blood and lymph vessels are effectually closed against the migration of any cancer cells or fungi.
I have tried arsenic in all its forms and prepared in many ways, but have discarded it because of the danger of absorption and consequently kidney involvement, and because it is far too painful for the depth of tissue it will destroy. Chloride of chromium is too superficial in action to be of any service in any but the very smallest skin cancers.
A remedy that I have used for years, and have come to depend upon most, is saturated solution of chloride of zinc because it is less painful than any other escharotic, and yet it destroys cancer tissue to quite a depth. I have used this drug in solution, and also made the paste, and always with the best of results. In cancer inside the mouth I inject a solution of zinc chloride with tincture of thuja directly into the cancer, using a few drops at each injection. The method can also be used in epitheliomas of the cervix.
Gentleman, it has been my endeavor, in my feeble manner, to set forth my belief as to the causation of cancer and its most successful method of treatment, hoping that I may be able to arouse in your minds a train of thought that will open up the way whereby a more feasible solution of the cancer problem may valuable lives. My paper is incomplete, for to go in and give in detail each step of the treatment would take up too much time, and then perhaps not be lucid, but knowing you as careful, thoughtful men, it has been my endeavor to give you the thought, the suggestion, knowing full well that you can elaborate and work out the idea to its successful fruition. I thank you.
