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LOS ANGELES TIMES Los Angeles, California October 30, 1960 ,Cigarettes Get Clean Bill on Lung Cancer Health Councillor Knocks Down Other Commonly Accepted Ideas on Keeping Well Cigarette smoking does not cause lung cancer, in the opinion of Dr. Justus J. Schifferes, of New York, di. ` rector of the Health Educa- " ` tiom Council. He labeled the premise, "Cigarettes cause lung can- cer," as "seduction by statis- tics." "Cigarette smoking may ~ De a s a c t o r (of cancer), but not the cause," said Dr. ~ Schifferes here last week. ~ "In 1615 King James I of England said 'smoking is a filthy habit, dangerous to the lungs.' The American Can~ cer Society doesn't have any more reliable information than King James did." _ Derides Statements Dr. Schifferes also derided' other "accepted" h e a 1 t h statements as follows: Do not read in bed. L. _. '= "It doesn't make any dif- HITS BELIiEFS-Dr. Jus- tus J. Schifferes derides common health notions: Tlmes.ahotn -Do not drink water with your meals. "Drink as much water as you like," invited Dr. Schif- feres. "Do you realize there's water in all your food? Why, beefsteak is 505o water." Dr. Schifferes was invited here by the Los Angeles Ci- ty Board of Education to appear before school staff members and teacher groups. He is the author of the best- sellinq "E s s e nt i'a 1 s of Healthier Living," ference where you read,' he safd. "It's otrly importa_n_t that a book be 14 inches from your face, the light di. rected over your left shoul- der. "' A cIean tooth never decays. "There is no such thing as a clean tooth-a clean tooth~ Is as rare as a hen's tooth."' said Dr. Schifferes smiling. Overweight causes heart disease.. 'A Moot Point' "Categorically, incorrect," he declared. This is a moot point; the same as say- Ing cigarettes are the cause of lung cancer." MEDICAL WORLD NEWS November 5, 1960 CIGARETTE SMOKING NOT A MAJOR CAUSE OF LUNG CANCER Cigarette smoking is only one of the factors, and not the main one, respon- sible for the rising rate of lung cancer, a South African physician told the 6th International Congress on Diseases of the Chest, in Vienna. T.Sr. Geoffrey Dean said that as an emigrant to South Africa he had been surprised to find that though white South African men are far heavier smokers than men in Britain; the incidence of lung cancer in South Africa is only half the British rate. A ten-year survey of deaths con- '' -vinced him that the difference simply depends on the air people breathe. The survey included these details: 1) British immigrants in South Africa have a 44 per cent higher lung cancer rate than either those born in South Africa or immigrants from other countries. Moreover, a much higher rate occurs in British immigrants who have settled in the larger cities. 2) The highest rate of lung cancer,, for the country as well as for British~ immigrants, occurs in Durban, "which has the most serious air-pollutiom problem in all of South Africa. Air pollution in Durban now compares with Kensington and St. Pancras in -" London." By 1956, lung cancer ac- counted for one-sixthi of all deaths of British immigrants aged 45 to 64 years. in Durban. 3) Even the age at time of death in- criminated British air. Thus, British immigrants who died~ of lung cancer at .• an early age, between, 45 and 54, had emigrated to South Africa at an av- erage age of 30: Those who migrated at an average age of 24 lived longer, to between 55 and 64 years.