암의 전염성 있는 맛
The Contagious Taste of Cancer
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)
Doctors of that era, especially those who weren't too keen on hygiene, probably did not have exceptionally great life-spans.
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.
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?
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.