Tobacco Documents Online

58 Wed., Nov. 16, 1960 Paterson Evening News 0 Lung Cance'r-Smoki ng Relationship Physicians Hear Two-Hour Debate on A Kennedy-Nixon type debate cases, and as a final note in his on lung cancer and its relationl opening address, Dr. Wynder said, to k n k " smo t g too place last night in Valley View County Hospital library, Wayne Township, before altnost 150 physicians, members of the Passaic County Medical So- ciety. Dr. Ernest Wynder, chief of epidemiology, Memorial Hospital, New York City, tried to prove that lung cancer is caused by smoking; and Dr. Robert' C. Hock- ett, associated scientific director, Tobacco Industry Research Com- mittee, argued in favor of the opposi,te view. The two-hour debate was kick- ed off before the large crowd, many of whom were puffing away on cigars and cigarettes, by Dr. Wynder. Cites Examinations Dr. Wynder announced smil- ingly that he did not smoke him- self, but' that this did not preju- dice his views. He said that he had devoted 10 long yeata to the study of cause and effect between Iung • cancer and smoking, and that he had personally examined over 1,000 lung cancer patients. He stated the following to be facts: 1. if a heavy smoker has a cough, and If he stops smoking, the cough usually goes away. 2. A group of Seventh Day Adven- fists In California, who do not smoke because of religious con- victions, were examined and found to have practically no traces of lung cancer. 3. In 'Venice, Italy, where over 70 per cent of all persons who die in hospitals are autopsied, heavy smokers had a high incidence of lung cancer. 4. Radiologists were known (people who work with X- ray machines) to have a signifi- cant rate of leukemia, and thus they are protected' with lead cnields. But, there Is less evi- dence to support this theory than the smoking-lung cancer theory. Injecting a humorous note. Dr. Wynder saidi "Science has tried to get~ animals to smoke, such as trained birds. but they refuse to learn." 5. The Public Health Service has banned certain food additives, without any evidence that they are harmful to humans; only because of laboratory testsi on animals. Even the Surgeon General of the United States agrees that the mass of circum- stances indicates that smokin- is the cause of lung cancer in many Even many doctors in Russia agree with me."' In rebuttal, Dr. Hockett, a for- mer associate professor of chem- istry at M. 1. T. stated, "I'm speaking for myself and not the tobacco industry. Our research committee, although founded by the tobacco industry, is not con- trolled by it. We are free to speak ,without' any interference, and I hope that the medical profession will use the knowledge that' our group unearths." As an example of the indus- try's interest in getting at the true reason for lung cancer, he cited the fact that over $4,000,000 has been given in grants to colleges, etc. for study purposes. "Seton Hall University received two such grants just recently," he pointed out. Dr. Hockett used an analogy to show that if wrong conclusions are jumped' at too quickly then the finding of a real cure for a disease may be delayed. "Years ago in Italy," he said. "people thought that' malaria was caused by the poisonous fumes arising from the swamps. Now, If people wore masks or cloaks to protect themselves, the real cause, which is mosquitoes, might not have ,been discovered until mtich later !than It was." He said that masses of statis- ,tics and data, are not as good as "hunches" in the research lab- oratory. Data alone cannot find causes. Ulcers were also studied by his group, Dr. Hockett said, and tobacco was found to have no effect on them. "In fact," he said;, "in many cases, tobacco re- laxed tension+" Dr. Hockett also cited the dan- gers of harmful ingredients In the air itself. "A man who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, also inhales over 13,000 times more volume of air during the same 24' hours." In the question and answer Iperiod which followed, at which time a decided absence of tobac- co smoke in the packed library was noted, Dr. Wynder sald, "Statistics do prove something. In a study of over 1,000 medicril doctors, more than 451~o over 35 years of age had stopped smnk- ing, when acquainled with my tac ts." Wynder claimed also that filter cigarettes really do heip chronic heavy smokers rid themselves of a cough. - Says No Proof Dr. Hockett then made his closing remarks in answer to questions and stateG that the to- bacco industry is ready anytime to make safer cigarettes as soon as they know what properties to leave out. "Thus far, wt do not know, and nobody else does either. We want to find the real cause of lung cancer, as much as anyone else does, but thus far, tobacco has not been proved conclusively to be tae guilty agent."