암의 전염성 있는 맛

The Contagious Taste of Cancer

23 pointsby Thevet2026. 2. 7.10 comments
원문 보기 (historytoday.com)

요약

이 글은 암에 대한 역사적인 믿음을 탐구하며, 특히 17세기 외과의사 사무엘 스미스가 암성 액체를 맛보고 사망한 사례에 초점을 맞춥니다. 이 사례는 암이 전염되지 않는다는 현대적 이해에 앞서, 강렬한 감각 경험과 감정이 질병과 연결된다는 초기 근대 의학 이론을 보여줍니다.

댓글 (10)

airstrike2시간 전
Holy nightmare fuel jumpscare. Why would someone do this but at the same time knowing humans of course someone would do this.
maxerickson2시간 전
In the case of transmissible diseases like smallpox, controlled exposure ends up being protective. It was widely practiced prior to development of modern vaccines.
ngruhn2시간 전
Newton poked a needle into his eye socket to study the resulting visual distortions. I'd rather lick the cancer juice.
delichon2시간 전
Samuel Smith appears to have been infected by a fatal meme. I am obnoxiously in favor of free speech, but I can't deny ideas can kill in more ways than Chuck Norris.
mapontosevenths1시간 전
It is also possible that he was bound for his deathbed regardless, and confused correlation and causation here. Perhaps his desire to taste other people's cancer was an early symptom of some mental decline that had already started?

Doctors of that era, especially those who weren't too keen on hygiene, probably did not have exceptionally great life-spans.

mberning2시간 전
It doesn’t seem completely out of the question that he could have received a contagious cancer. There are examples in the animal world. I believe Tasmanian devils spread facial tumors through biting. And I have heard dogs have certain transmissible cancers as well.
mapontosevenths2시간 전
It stands to reason in my decidedly non-expert opinion. Many cancer cells have "forgotten" how to differentiate properly. Why should such a cell care if it's in the proper host any more than it cares it's in the proper place within that host?

I am a bit surprised that his own immune cells wouldn't stop it, but if cancer were easy for the immune system to deal with nobody would die of it.

lebuffon2시간 전
We have one solid example of cancer caused by members of the HPV family. The disease can be transmitted via body fluids and/or contact. So there's that.

My laymans take: Cancer is a disease of the DNA of a cell. Viruses survive by altering cellular DNA. It begs the question: How many other viruses cause cancer?

It also seems clear to me that the virus may not be the sole cause since not everybody gets cancer so it is a multi-variable problem.

Virus + X = cancer

This will be harder to nail down but with modern data tools we should be able to get there.

Makes me wonder: Is the cancer "industry" searching for causes or just after-the-fact treatment?

maxerickson1시간 전
Makes me wonder: Is the cancer "industry" searching for causes or just after-the-fact treatment?

Why brag that you are uninformed?

Some of the more successful interventions for cancer are preventative (for example removing polyps during colonoscopies) and genetic counseling is common.