Medical essays / by T.R. Allinson.

  • Allinson, T. R. (Thomas Richard)
Date:
1915
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical essays / by T.R. Allinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    TOPE Os Uses Fy The word “ tumour ” really means a swelling, and is use in this sense. by the doctor. In the popular mind atumou. means a growth of some sort or other, and I shall treat oi tumours as being growths that require attention. Tumours may be harmless, or they may be malignant or deadly. I look upon tumoursas evidence, as a rule, of a particular disordered condition of the system which permits of the formation of these growths. I do not regard them as being the cause of disease, but rather as evidence of wrong dietetic and hygienic conditions. Thus, for example, when I see a cancer I do not say that cancer will cause death, or that it is the cause of the weakness which is seen when this disease is_ present. What I do say is that the wrong conditions which allowed the cancer to form generally account for the accompanying weak and low condition of the body. On this distinction I base my mode of treating them. ‘Therefore, as a rule, instead of advocating the use of the knife, I ask my patients to adopt dietetic and hygienic rules, and so give them the best means or chance of recovery, as a healthy system will usually check the growth of both the harmless and the malignant tumours. CausEs.—The causes why tumours form are many and varied. They may be parasitic or acquired. As an example of a parasitic tumour, I may mention cysts in the brain or liver, which are caused by an immature tapeworm finding a resting place therein. Acquired tumours are the com- monest, and are generally caused by wrong dietetic habits and unhygienic living, or a constitutional tendency may exist, for we find cancers developing at an early age, because the person’s parents suffered from this disease. In my article on ‘‘ The Pig as Food,” I pointed out that cancer
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