Cancer as I See It

BOOK REVIEWS nesses, for in our experiences we have seen great influences in such ailments as glandu­ lar imbalances and malnutrition, which would not necessarily mean that the child would miss school. With reference to cerebral disorders the author has held to a rather fixed neurologic type of examination. In ruling out emotional disturbances as being of importance, he assumes, in his conclusions, that the inci­ dence of emotional disturbances in children with reading problems is no higher than in the normal population, yet Hallgren admits, and his statistics demonstrate, that in his cases, emotional disturbances were extremely com­ mon. Some of the literature dealing with associ­ ation between reading difficulties and visual defects is discussed. Among other conditions, Hallgren calls attention to the fact that com­ pensated muscle imbalances, such as phorias of high degree, do not affect interpretation of symbols but that effort to see binocularly can be said to discourage reading. It appears that he considers ocular disturbances of little essential importance in dyslexia. He states that in none of the cases in which glasses were prescribed had there been subsequently noted any marked improvement in reading and writing. He apparently failed to con­ sider abnormalities of the eyes as only part of the symptom complex in retarded reading. Because the author found that, in 80 per­ cent of his cases of dyslexia, one of the parents was also dyslexic, he concludes that heredity was the causal factor. On the surface this appears to be a valid reason for saying that hereditary factors are of para­ mount importance in reading disability. Cer­ tainly the author has proved that reading difficulties tend to run in families, but it seems pertinent to question whether the trait runs in the family because it is inherited or because the same environmental factors also tend to run in families.

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Although Hallgren's basic theory of ge­ netically transmitted specific dyslexia is not accepted, there is nevertheless a possibility that heredity may occasionally contribute circumstances that predispose to dyslexia; and his thorough and painstaking study is, therefore, appreciated. Acceptance of the hereditary concept would be disastrous, for then the parents, teachers, and particularly the child would consider the condition hope­ less and treatment would be doomed to failure. The causal factors may be central or peripheral, or both, and under abnormal en­ vironmental and functional changes appear as a syndrome, with many ramifications ex­ tending into the emotions, health, and edu­ cation of the child. This syndrome—dys­ lexia—is characterized by an inability to learn to read properly, even though the indi­ vidual may have normal or superior intelli­ gence. In all of these perplexing problems, with few exceptions, it can, fortunately, be dem­ onstrated that dyslexia does yield to treat­ ment, but successful treatment takes the best that medicine, psychiatry, psychology, and education have to offer. George E. Park. I SEE IT. By Henry W. Abelmann, M.D. New York, Philosophical Li­ brary, 1951. 95 pages and index. Price: $2.75. Carcinoma, sarcoma, pernicious anemia, leukemia, Paget's disease, rodent ulcer, Hodgkin's disease, mycosis fungoides, and certain granulomas are all linked together in the mind of the author as manifestations of cancer and are believed by him to be caused by a mold fungus. The book is a philosophical discussion, without sufficient factual or ex­ perimental evidence to lend credence to the hypothesis presented. William A. Mann. CANCER AS