Our Synthetic Environment by Murray Bookchin

Author:Murray Bookchin [Bookchin, Murray]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harper & Row
Published: 0101-01-01T02:00:00+00:00

The General Envionment

What are some of the general, or nonspecific, factors that influence the onset and progress of cancer? If this question is often difficult to answer, the reason is not that these factors are too few; on the contrary, there are too many of them, and the problem is to decide which ones are the most important. There is evidence that both the occurrence of a cancer and its course are influenced by the subject's emotional make-up, his diet, and his occupation. The adequate treatment of a cancer, in turn, requires knowledge not only of surgery, radiation, and chemical therapeutics but also of the patient's character and environment. Although the course of many cancers is generally predictable, individual responses to treatment vary so widely that a specific cancer that usually causes death within a few months can, in some cases, be controlled for several years.

Emotional stress is an important element in the progress of certain cancers. At the annual meeting of the American Cancer Society in I 959, several cancer specialists focused attention on the role that anxiety seems to play in the onset and course of malignant tumors. Drawing upon his experiences as a radiologist, Eugene P. Pendergrass, the outgoing president of the

society, observed that even if psychological factors do not determine the eventual outcome of cancer, they seem to influence the development of the disease. "I personally have observed cancer patients who had undergone successful treatment and were living well for years. Then an emotional stress such as a death of a son in World War II, the infidelity of a daughter-in-law, or

the burden of long unemployment seems to have been a precipitating factor in the reactivation of their disease which resulted in death." A similar viewpoint was expressed by John B. Graham, of the Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo. "The adversities and despairs that these people [cancer victims] are subject to, and their responses to them, are indeed factors in the

development of cancer and the effectiveness of treatment." At a press conference, Graham added: "It has seemed to us in some cases that despair precedes cancer. I would not say it is a cause, but it may be a factor which decides when cancer will develop."

In view of what we know of Selye's work on stress and the adrenal corticoids, these conclusions should not be surprising. Cortisone is used effectively to delay death in cases of such hopeless cancers as acute leukemia. The temporary remissions achieved by this hormone are often striking. After being treated with cortisone, a victim of acute leukemia often seems to be on the point of complete recovery, although in time the cancer invariably overcomes the effects achieved by the hormone. There are reasons for suspecting that, just as cortisone inhibits the growth of certain cancers, other adrenal hormones sustain and even propagate cancers of the breast and prostate gland. By removing the adrenal glands of patients suffering from these tumors, physicians often gain control of the disease for long periods of time.

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