| Description |
viii, 356 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction: What Do We Know? -- 1. A Disease of Civilization? The Question of Trends. The Question of Causes -- 2. The Environmentalist Thesis. Wilhelm C. Hueper: A Hero Hounded. Rachel Carson: Protecting the Web of Life -- 3. The Percentages Game. Samuel S. Epstein and the Politics of Cancer. Joseph Califano's 20 to 40 Percent. The Mystification of Numbers -- 4. The Reagan Effect. Environmental Health Dismantled. Costs and Benefits. Ideological Effluent. Body Count -- 5. "Doubt Is Our Product": Trade Association Science. Science as Public Relations. Smokescreen: The Tobacco Industry. Asbestos Misinformation. Petrochemical Persuasion. Rhetorical Strategies of Avoidance -- 6. Natural Carcinogens and the Myth of Toxic Hazards. The Argument: Nature Is Not Benign. The Critics. The Policy Implications -- 7. The Political Morphology of Dose-Response Curves. Early Concepts of Chemical Thresholds. The Question of Repair. Dose and Response. The Problem with Animal Studies |
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Body Victimology, Body Machismo, and Regulatory Prudence -- 8. Nuclear Nemesis. Edison's Assistant. The Radium-Dial Painters. The Shadow of the Bomb. Uranium Mines. Uranium-Mine Concentration Camps -- 9. Radon's Deadly Daughters. The Tailings Problem. The Household Hazard. The Watras Family. Public Apathy and Regulatory Impotence. The Problem of Synergy. Radon Redux -- 10. Genetic Hopes. Early Racial and Familial Theories. Multistage Models and the Mutation Theory. Genetic Susceptibility: Rare Syndromes. Genetic Susceptibility: More Common Cancers. Nature versus Nurture and the Ideology of Invulnerability -- Conclusion: How Can We Win the War? Are We Winning the War? Competing Concepts of Cause. Two Kinds of Conservatism. The Poverty of Prevention. The Myth of Ignorance |
| Summary |
Cancer Wars explains why we still don't have straight answers to questions such as these: Why do rates from some cancers appear to have risen and others fallen? What are the relative risks of polluted water, radon in homes, and the natural toxins in peanut butter? Is it dangerous to use a cellular phone or to live near high-voltage wires? Are there "thresholds" of exposure to radiation or chemical toxins? If cigarettes cause up to 30 percent of all cancer, why has so little been done to discourage their production? And why does the National Cancer Institute spend only 3 percent of its budget on antitobacco efforts? After an overview of the history of attempts to understand cancer, the book introduces two of the foremost twentieth-century advocates of the environmental view of cancer: the little-known Wilhelm Hueper and his famous disciple, Rachel Carson. Proctor then moves to the 1970s, when claims that a large percentage of cancers could be caused by exposure to industrial pollutants gained currency, and then to the backlash during the Reagan era, when environmental and occupational health factors were downplayed. Proctor discusses the lobbying efforts of industrial research bodies and trade associations representing tobacco, asbestos, meat, coffee, and other special interest groups. He considers the debate over Bruce Ames's argument that "natural carcinogens" in foods pose a far greater threat than industrial pollutants or pesticides, and chronicles the political history of dose-response curves: Can a single molecule of a carcinogen cause cancer? A fascinating chapter on the history of radiation and cancer draws on censored information about uranium-mine concentration camps in Czechoslovakia. The author also discusses genetic factors and differential susceptibility to cancer. Finally, Proctor suggests how we might actually win the war on cancer |
| Analysis |
Cancer Political aspects United States |
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Cancer Social aspects United States |
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Carcinogenesis |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [328]-340) and index |
| Subject |
Cancer -- Political aspects -- United States.
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Cancer -- Social aspects -- United States.
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Cancer -- Treatment -- Political aspects -- United States.
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Cancer -- Treatment -- Social aspects -- United States.
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Cancer.
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Carcinogenesis.
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Oncology -- Political aspects -- United States.
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Oncology -- Social aspects -- United States.
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Neoplasms.
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Health Policy.
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Neoplasms -- etiology.
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Politics.
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| SUBJECT |
United States. https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D014481 |
| LC no. |
94038792 |
| ISBN |
0465008593 (paperback) |
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0465027563 |
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