Certain symptoms are suspicious and should be given serious consideration. Not long ago a state cancer organization asked 158 people with cancer why they had delayed so long in seeking medical attention with their problem. One half of them said that they had not taken it seriously. Two had hesitated because they were afraid of cancer and two because they were afraid of doctors. Ten per cent said that they just had not bothered about it, and another 10 per cent were afraid that it would cost them something to see the doctor. This information is enlightening, since we know that hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved today if people would just bring their symptoms soon enough to the attention of competent physicians and surgeons.Whenever a lump appears underneath the surface of the body and does not go away the symptom must be considered suspicious. Whenever there is bleeding or a discharge, from any portion of the body, that is not easily explainable the symptom is a warning sign. Whenever a sore or rubbed area in the body does not heal promptly, investigation should be made immediately. Cancers that may be seen and felt easily are those on the skin, in the mouth, or in the breast. Women are much less likely to suffer cancers of the skin than are men, because women are much more careful about the appearance of the surface of the body. Men suffer more cancers of the mouth than do women. Cancers of the breast, however, are far more frequent in women than in men. The most frequent cancers which cannot be seen or felt but which warn of their presence by unusual symptoms such as bleeding and discharges are cancers of the urinary bladder, the kidney, or the organs concerned in childbirth.Pain is a relatively late symptom in cancer. Pain is likely to cause people to seek medical attention promptly; but other symptoms usually come before pain. Cancers which cannot be seen and which do not give any external signs of their presence are those of the stomach, the bowels, or the lungs. Hoarseness that persists more than a short time, and particularly hoarseness that does not go away after the voice has been rested, may be considered a danger signal. Many a man with serious symptoms affecting his stomach satisfies himself with a dose of baking soda. This is like pouring water on a fire bell when the fire is burning in the house.*2/318/5*
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