merck manual, 1899

A search on "iodine" in the 1899 Merck Manual returns 96 hits. "Iodide", 100 hits. Were I to repeat the search using the term "iodopin" or "iodophorm", even more results would be returned...

Below is a sampling of conditions for which iodine in one or another form was prescribed in 1899. Iodine was certainly NOT the only suggested medicine, I am listing these conditions only to show you the wide range of conditions for which iodine was once prescribed. It was prescribed in many forms, from tincture to potassium iodide to iodized oil, and administered in a variety of ways, from internal dosing to painting to injection to inhalation. Some of the indications are to be expected, such as the use of iodine for goiter or uterine fibroid. Others were unexpected, such as the use of an iodine enema in hepatitis. This manual was published well after the initial iodine enthusiasm in the early part of the century, so I imagine that these treatments were well-established in 1899.


asthma

iodine: painting the line of the pneumogastric nerve with liniment or tincture in pure spasmodic asthma

Hordeolum(stye).- see also, eyelids

Iodine tincture

Meningitis, tubercular

Iodine

Ovarian diseases

Carbolate of Iodine

Smallpox

Iodine

Emphysema

Potassium iodide

Empyela

Iodine

endometriosis

iodine, iodi-tannin, solution of iodine and tannic acid, on cotton wool

Enuresis

Iodine

epydidimitis

iodine

erysypalis

iodine, solution not too strong painted over.

exotosis

iodine, potassium iodide

fever

carbolate of iodine, in the later stages of typhoid, and in chronic malarial poisoning

fractures

iodine, antiseptic dressing

freckles

iodine

glanders and farcy: more info here: Glanders in a Military Research Microbiologist

iodine

glandular enlargements

iodine, internally and painted around, not over the gland.
iodoform, as a dressing to breaking-down glands.
iodoformogen: equitable and persistent in action on open glands.
iodole: internally
lead iodide: ointment

goiter

iodine: internally, and locally as ointment or tincture, and as injection
iodoform
iodoformogen
iodothyrine
potassium iodide

gout

iodide of potassium
iodine
iodoform
iron iodide

gums, diseases of

iodine tincture, locally

hepatitis

iodine, as enema

hepatic diseases

iodine or iodides

hernia

iodine

hydrocele

iodine

hydrocephalus

iodine, potassium iodide

hydrothorax

iodine, injections after tapping.

inflammation

iodine, locally

joint affections- see also arthritis, bursitis, etc

iodine
iodoform
iodoformogen, more diffusible and persistent than iodoform
iodole
iron iodide

keratitis- see also, corneal opacities

potassium iodide

laryngitis, acute

iodine, as inhalation and counter-irritant over neck.

laryngitis, chronic

iodine, as counter-irritant

lupus

iodine, in glycerin

measles

iodine

meningitis, tubercular

iodine

menorhaggia and metrorrhagia- see also, amenorhea, hemmorhage, uterine tumors

iodine

mercurial cachexia - a condition arising from over-use of mercury- containing medications. for more: mercurial cachexia

iodine and iodides
iodopin
iodohemol

nausea

iodine

nevus- see also, tumors, warts

iodine, paint

obesity

iodides
iodoform
iodole

odontalgia

iodine: painted on to remove tartar on teeth; and in exposure of fang due to atrophy of gum.

opthalmia- see also, blepharitis, conjunctivitis, keratitis

iodine, iodoform, iodoformogen, iodole

ozena- see also, catarrh, chronic, nasal

carbolate of iodine
glycerine and iodine
iodine: as inhalation. Much benefit is derived from washing out the nose with a solution of common salt, to which a few drops of the tincture of iodine have been added.
iodopin
iodoform
iodoformogen
iodole

pericarditis- see also, endocarditis

iodides
iodine

peritonitis

iodine

pharyngitis- see also, throat, sore, tonsillitis

iodine, iodoform
iodoformogen

phthisis- see also, cough, hemoptysis, hectic fever, perspiration, night sweats, laryngitis, tubercular, meningitis, peritonitis, etc

iodine: liniment as a counter-irritant to remove the consolidation in early stages, and to remove pain and cough later, as inhalation to lessen cough and expectoration.
iodine tincture
iodopin
iodoform: inhalation
iodole

uterine tumors

iodine

a sampling of iodine preparations found in the 1899 Merck Manual:

topical iodine and tumors

image from book...

an early report on the use of topical iodine and "scirrhus"tumors(definition below). It was recognized then that if such growths were not attended to they could indeed develop into cancer. So much for FBD being a "benign" condition...   

(6.) Preparations of Iodine.—" That the external use of iodine, in the form of ointment, sometimes completely removes tumors possessing the characters of scirrhus*, (where it has been had recourse to at an early stage of their development,) is a fact of which we have witnessed some examples. The truly cancerous nature of such growths may of course be questioned ; yet a trial of iodine externally, provided the part be indolent, and its use excite no irritative action, is certainly advisable : the length of the trial should be regulated by the apparent influence produced on the tumor." Since I wrote these words in 1840, my confidence in the powers of iodine-friction, especially when combined with the use of the iodide of arsenic internally, has increased. Nor does my present experience allow me to conceive a single doubt that tumors, actually and truly scirrhous in structure,—tumors which would have run the common course of cancer,—may be arrested in their progress by early and judicious use of these agents. Nor is similar testimony wanting from others. Mr. Gr. N. Hill's cases afford very decisive evidence to the same effect, and Dr. Ashwell's statements on the subject (see Cancer of the Uterus) are strongly encouraging. The convictions of Mr. Travers on the point are stated with peculiar emphasis. " By an indolent scirrhus," says this writer, " I mean an incompressible permanent tumor, possessing for many years no distinguishing character of that disease ; but in a deranged state of health assuming its genuine character, and at a particular period of life breaking up into an actual cancer. I do not entertain a doubt that such a tumor may be, and often is, absorbed in its first stage, and need not therefore of necessity follow this course. I feel assured that most of the hard breasts of young and middle-aged women admit of being reduced by the iodine or the mercurial ointment, if early resorted to, and steadily persevered in, having often succeeded in procuring their absorption by such means, when, from the characters they presented, I should otherwise have felt compelled to urge their removal by operation Nothing is more certain than the susceptibility of absorption in many such tumors at an early stage of their existence.


The preparation of iodine used is not a matter of indifference. That ordinarily employed, a combination of iodide of potassium, iodine and lard, almost invariably produces a degree of cutaneous irritation, which makes it necessary to intermit its use frequently, and sometimes give it up altogether. The iodide of lead ointment (composed of a drachm of the salt and an ounce of lard) is not only completely free from this inconvenience, but has appeared to me more actively promotive of absorption. The ointment should be smeared in very gently, twice daily, for several minutes at a time.


***************************


source: The Nature and Treatment of Cancer", by Walter Hayle Walshe, M.D., 1846




*scirrhus~ Scirrhus is a hard, unequal tumor, which occasionally appears in different viscera, such as the liver and womb, but more fre-quently in the grandular parts, for instance, the breasts, arm-pits, and about the neck. chestofbooks.com

We have all come up out of the Sea...

The thyroid may be looked upon as the organ evolved for maintaining the same amount of iodine in the blood as there is in sea water. Sea water was our original habitat, since, like Venus, we have all come up out of the sea.


The more intimate study of the composition of the blood has revealed the most astonishing parallelism between it and the compounds of sea water. The blood is sea water, to which has been added hemoglobin as a pigment for carrying oxygen to the cells not in direct contact with the atmosphere, nutrients to take the place of the prey our marine ancestors gobbled up frankly and directly, and white cells to act as the first line of defense. To keep the concentration of iodine in the blood a constant, the thyroid evolved, since there is no iodine in most foods and very little in those which do contain it.

The Birth of Venus~ Sandro Botticelli

source: THE GLANDS REGULATING PERSONALITY, A STUDY OF THE GLANDS OF INTERNAL SECRETION IN RELATION TO THE TYPES OF HUMAN NATURE 

BY LOUIS BERMAN, M.D. 

ASSOCIATE IN BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, COLUMBIA University;

 Physician To The Special Health Clinic, 

             Lenox Hill Hospital 

1922

The passage from the miracles of nature to those 

of art is easy. 

—Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, 1620. 

blessed cretins

image~ "Le Magasin pittoresque, Volume 8"
1840

"One remarkable fact respecting cretins remains to be noticed. They are esteemed by their parents blessings ; they are even said to prefer idiotic children, conceiving them the peculiar gifts of God, and certain of future felicity, because incapable of wilful sin. These idiots are frequently married, and are always carefully tended in all their wants by their relations. It is at least fortunate for these poor objects that such a superstition prevails. They usually bask in the sun all the summer long, and are seldom employed at any occupation, however unintellectual." 1


"Whence the name Cretins?  Several writers think that this term is derived from the word Christian, and justify this strange etymology as follows:—A popular superstition, respectable at least in its effects, regarded as a blessing from God the presence of a Cretin in a family. This poor, inoffensive being, unable to gain the means of livelihood, was, in the eyes of his relatives and neighbors, a holy, sacred object, which drew down the protection of heaven upon the house. He was a christian—a being whom Jesus Christ had sent to call forth his father's and mother's charity. It is easy to understand that such an opinion must be protection for the unhappy people, sunk to the lowest degree of debasement." 2

"Here in Servos, we met for the first time with hideous goitres of immense size, especially in the women, almost all of whom seemed more or less affected with this disease. While making this remark, we were told at the same time that those most unfortunate of all beings, the Cretins, abound in the greatest numbers here at Servos, though found, but less frequently, in all the other villages of the Savoy mountains. In Servos there is hardly a family which does not contain one of these lamentable beings. But they are far from considering this as a misfortune. A kindly superstition teaches the vulgar to regard these poor creatures as consecrated beings, who presage good luck, and they are styled  "the Innocents." No one presumes to do them any harm or ridicule them. Within the cottage the best place at the fireside is the property of the Cretin ; his wants are first supplied, and as abundantly as the means will permit, and his humors, peculiarities and laziness indulged without contradiction. 3

image~ "Crétins and idiots, a short account...", 1853

1 The Gardener's magazine and register of rural & domestic improvement, Volume 9, 1833

2 Complete works of Rev. Thomas Smyth, Volume 8, 1910

3 Child's friend and youth's magazine, Volume 5, 1846

iodism schmiodism!

a snippet from an article on treating intercranial syphilis.

In giving potassium iodide I have, for many years, taught the doctrine that there is no such thing as a fixed or arbitrary dosage. When indicated, give it not with iodism as a guide, but until either the disease yields, or until very large doses—seven, eight, or nine hundred grains daily—without any modification of symptoms, satisfies you that its further employment is useless. To recur to iodism, that stumbling-block in the pathway of so many. Iodism should be a very rare obstacle to the successful treatment of nervous syphilitics. I have had to discontinue the drug in only two cases during the past six years, a success due, I believe, entirely to my method of giving the iodide, which is as follows: I always use the drug in the form of the saturated solution, for convenience and accuracy. I am careful to get a pure drug from a reputable chemist. Beginning with twenty drops (never less) after meals, the dose is increased three, five, or ten drops daily, according to the urgency or gravity of conditions. The vehicle is changed every third day, the first two days water, the next two milk, the next Vichy, then Apollinaris, then back and through the same cycle again and again, the amount of the vehicle being increased pari passu with the increase of the drug. Should iodism develop to an annoying or extreme degree, I stop for two days and then start just where I stopped, doubling the ratio of daily increase. Your patient will be thirty or forty grains daily further along before iodism recurs, employing this method. The addition of essence of pepsin in two or three-drachm doses after the iodide seems to be of decided service at times. The rennet mixture advocated by some writers is a vile mess, in my judgment, and is but rarely tolerated for more than a few days. Iodism is much more apt to occur from the continued use of a fixed dose, although a moderate one, than when giving it by the progressive method. I have seen iodism from continuous 20 gr. doses disappear at forty or fifty grains—paradoxical as this statement may appear. Following this method I have repeatedly given six hundred grains and more daily without any special inconvenience, and in one patient affected with meningomyelitis, a daily quantity of 1245 drops of the saturated solution was reached without untoward symptoms.



source: A DIAGNOSTIC SYNDROME FOR INTRACRANIAL SYPHILIS. WITH REMARKS UPON PROGNOSIS AND TREATMENT.. By WM. BROADDUS PRITCHARD., Medical Record, Volume 65, 1904


grain~  64.79891 mg, 1⁄7000 of a pound (wikipedia)


more on the myth of iodism here:


 http://iodinehistory.blogspot.com/2012/01/iodism-debunked-1922.html

THE SIMULTANEOUS OCCURRENCE OF TUMORS IN THE THYROID, UTERUS AND BREAST

THE SIMULTANEOUS OCCURRENCE OF TUMORS IN THE THYROID, UTERUS AND BREAST

MAX BALLIN, M.D. AND R. C. MOEHLIG, M.D.

DETROIT

article source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 1922


________________________________________________________________________________


Every surgeon who operates upon goiters must have noticed the frequent occurrence of tumors in the thyroid, uterus and breast. Apparently there has been very little written on the subject, however, for we could find only two references in the literature. Falta's 1 "Ductless Glandular Diseases" contains this note:

"There seems to exist a certain relationship between goiter and myomata of the uterus. At least it has been observed that in strumous women who also suffer from myomata the struma also decreases in size with the retrogression of the myoma at the menopause."

Falta's note is quoted from an article by Ullman 2  of Vienna. This article reads:

 thyroid gland

It has been known for a long time that a relationship exists between the uterus and the normal thyroid gland. The nature of this relationship is, of course, enshrouded in darkness; we only know that in a not infrequent number of women a transitory enlargement of the thyroid gland takes place at the time of menstruation. After the cessation of menstruation, the thyroid returns to normal. ... In many women during pregnancy an enlargement of the thyroid takes place, which still exists after childbirth. ... A third fact which concerns the question of the relationship between uterus and thyroid is that as to whether strumas develop more frequently in females then in males. ... I wish to emphasize that in women affected with myomas I was able to show a distinct enlargement of the thyroid gland, an enlargement that could be spoken of partly as struma parenchymatosa, partly as the result of degeneration, as colloid struma. ... I was then able to determine that these strumas following complete myomectomy became decidedly smaller; in many cases they disappeared entirely.

1. Falta, Wilhelm: Ductless Glandular Diseases, Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 1916, p. 156.

2. Ullman. Emmerich: Ueher Uterusmyom and Kropf, Wicn. ktin. Wchnschr. 23: 58S, 1910.

In looking over our own records, we find that of the last 100 female patients who consulted us for goiter, eighteen had fibroids;  four of them also had breast tumors; and of the last 100 patients who consulted us for fibroids, thirty-five had goiter; six had breast tumors. Thus, of the total 200 patients, fifty-three, or 26.5 per cent., had tumors of both thyroid and uterus. Ten of these 200 patients required operations on both the thyroid and the uterus. This large number of multiple lesions is obviously much more than a coincidence; yet, as noted above, very little mention of it has been made.

The matter therefore seemed important enough to call attention to again. Three points suggest themselves:

(a) It is possible, as suggested by Ullman, that certain goiters might be reduced in size or even cured by removal of a fibroid.

(b) Thyroid extract and iodin might be beneficial in preventing the development of fibroids as well as of goiters.

(c) These relationships might have some bearing on the etiology of these tumor groups.

fibrocystic breast tissue

In the eighteen goiters found in the examination of 100 fibroids, fourteen were adenomas of the thyroid, three were colloid goiters, and one was an exophthalmic goiter. Of the four breast tumors which accompanied goiters, an adenofibroma with cyst-areas accompanied an adenomatous goiter; an adenoma of the left breast accompanied an adenomatous goiter; an intracanalicular adenofibroma in the right breast, and a similar tumor with hyaline changes in the left breast accompanied a colloid adenomatous goiter. Another goiter which is not tabulated showed virginal hypertrophy of the right breast. Of the six breast tumors which accompanied fibroids, three were interstitial mastitis; one was a fibro-adenoma; one was a carcinoma of the left breast and fibro-adenoma of the right breast, and one was a cystadenoma.

uterine fibroids

Of the fifty-three patients with the combination of goiter and fibroid, the youngest was 25 years old, this patient being the only one below 30. Fully two thirds were over 35. We may say, therefore, that the incidence mounts with age, the simultaneous occurrence of goiter and fibroid being most prevalent in the latter half of the third decade and during the fourth decade. Of the 100 goiter patients, twenty-one were under the age of 25. There were no fibroids among these patients, so that the percentage of eighteen fibroids is borne by seventy-nine patients more than 25 years of age. In other words, the fibroid-goiter combination shows its entire incidence after 25 years of age, and increases rapidly after 35 years.

The simultaneous occurrence of goiters, fibroids and breast tumors is more frequent than is usually supposed. The thyroid, breast and uterus have different anatomic structures and are different in their embryologic origins, but we note that the function of the thyroid is closely related to, and influences the function of the sexual organs. The interrelationship of uterus and breast is obvious. Since these organs are related to each other only by function, it must be that physiologic interdependence is a factor in the tumor formation.

normal breast tissue

When sexual function ceases or begins to wane, usually the time arises for the growth of all these

tumors. The symptoms of fibroids usually become more alarming toward the end of the reproductive period. The adenomatous goiter, in the great majority of cases, does not give much discomfort until the menopause. Then pressure and toxic symptoms arise. Small tumors in the breast have often existed from the age of 20 to the age of 40 without giving any symptoms, or without having been noticed at all; still, their long-standing existence usually is clear when their presence becomes obvious through growth or discomfort. Because of the aforementioned functional (physiologic) relationship which exists between thyroid, uterus and breast, we may be able to understand why growth or irritation in one of these organs may induce growth or irritation in another. For instance, when a small fibroid which has existed innocently for many years suddenly begins to grow, it may induce growth or irritation in the thyroid or breast (and vice versa).


CONCLUSIONS:


1. In a series of 200 cases (100 fibroids and 100 goiters), fifty-three patients, or 26.5 per cent., had both goiter and fibroid. Five per cent, had breast tumors.

2. The age of incidence of these combinations was greatest after 35.

3. Since these three organs are not related anatomically or embryologically, the simultaneous occurrence of tumors in the thyroid, uterus and breast may be explained by their physiologic interrelationship.

4. The prophylactic treatment now advocated, of giving iodids for goiter, may likewise prove beneficial in the prevention of fibroid.

5. Perhaps certain goiters can be reduced in size or even cured by the removal of a fibroid (as suggested by Ullman).

all images- wiki commons

Toxic Breasts

BENIGN MAMMARY TUMORS AND INTESTINAL TOXEMIA*
By William Seaman Bainbridge


•Read at the Thirty-third Annual Meeting of the American Association of Obstetricians, Gynecologists, and Abdominal Surgeons, held at Atlantic City, N. J., September 20-22, 1920.


Wow, just wow. It seemed to be well-known, back in the day, that digestion was key. This physician cured lumpy breasts with adjustments in diet, laxatives, colonic irrigation and enemas. He also cured the condition with various surgeries, occasionally removing cysts but in the majority of cases the surgery was abdominal, removing adhesions and generally rearranging the organs and such. I have chosen to include only those cases that were cured by hygienic methods, if you wish you can follow this link and read all about the cases which required surgery:


American Journal of Obstetrics and gynecology, Volume 1



 It is worth noting that Dr. Bainbridge was able to save women's breasts via these abdominal surgeries, in fact saving breasts that had been deemed cancerous by other physicians.







The present paper purposes to record a series of twenty-five eases of abnormal mammary changes apparently caused by autointoxication. When these cases are seen in their early stages the breast condition is often overlooked; when they have developed into a more easily recognized state, frequently a diagnosis of malignant disease is made.


Each of the cases reported herein suffered from a coexistant chronic intestinal toxemia, and the amount of poisoning was reflected, in many instances, in the degree of change in the mammary tissue. When the autointoxication was relieved the breasts either markedly improved or returned entirely to the normal.


These cases classify themselves, more or less, into three groups. 1. Those with a condensation or lobular induration of the upper, outer quadrants of the breasts, usually along the edge of the large pectoral muscle, and where the dependent breast drags on the upper axillary margin. This occurs in both mammae, but more frequently in the left. Such terms as "toxic breasts," "lumpy breasts" or "stasis lumps" are descriptive of this condition. 2. Those cases that have, in addition to the above, and in the same region, localized degeneration with adenomata or cystomata. 3. Those that have an abnormal discharge from the nipple in conjunction with one or the other of the above conditions.


The diminishing of the gastrointestinal fermentation by diet, digestives, intestinal antiseptics, high alkaline colonic irrigations, and certain physiotherapeutic measures, is of distinct value. The use of these agents, together with a support to the breasts and a proper uplifting abdominal corset, often result in a complete disappearance of the breast lumps or tumors. However, some of the cases require surgical intervention of the underlying abdominal condition before the toxic poisoning is sufficiently relieved as to noticeably benefit the breasts.


In those cases where there is a cyst or adenoma in addition to a general lobular condition of the breasts, the removal of the growth and the correction of the intestinal stasis, by medical or surgical means, often result in the mammae becoming completely normal. A preliminary lessening of the general toxic condition, in some cases, materially helped in locating the real existing benign neoplasm, and hence it was made possible to save a considerable amount of curable breast tissue. By this means the patients were saved the mental and physical shock of an unnecessary amputation.


Case 1.—I. I.; age thirty-five; female; single. First seen May 12, 1919. Constipation with usual symptoms of intestinal stasis; backache. On examination, found floating right kidney; general enteroptosis; mass of feces in lower colon; considerable gas in ascending and transverse colon; marked lumpy condition in upper, outer quadrant left breast. Prescribed tonic, laxatives, uplifting corset belt; special abdominal exercises, and general hygienic regime. June, 1920: Patient in excellent health; constipation relieved; no longer any lumps in breast. September 1920, passed examination to enter training school for nurses of large metropolitan hospital.


Case 2.—E. S.; age thirty-three; female; single. First seen September, 1898. Marked constipation; frequent attacks of intestinal gas; distinct lumps in upper, outer quadrant of left breast; nipple normal. Very much worried about cancer. Prescribed diet, cathartics, and support to breasts, with very careful and frequent examination. Six months after treatment was begun lumps in breasts disappeared. For some years, patient noticed that if she became constipated and had "indigestion," there was a return of the lumpy condition. This was relieved by thorough catharsis. August, 1920: Breasts perfectly normal.



Case 3.—J. L.; age thirty; female; single. First seen January, 1919. Subacute attack of rheumatic fever; feet extremely swollen; painful; intestinal indigestion; headaches; nausea; marked constipation. On examination found intestinal stasis; large lumps in both breasts; enlarged glands of neck; swelling of feet and ankles. Prescribed diet; high alkaline colonic irrigations; salicylates, for a short time, cathartics, with physiotherapy as able to take it. September 1920: Under treatment, swelling and pain in joints of feet and elsewhere gradually disappared. Lumps in breasts entirely gone after two months. Twice she allowed herself to become constipated and to be indiscreet with diet and at both times noticed a soreness and distinct lumpy condition of breasts, which disappeared upon resorting to careful treatment.

Case 4.—W. R.; age twenty-eight; female; married. First seen November 27, 1906. Rectal abscess and cyst of perineum removed. In 1919 complained of intestinal gas; loss of weight; constipation; soreness of breasts, worried about cancer. On examination, found gastroptosis; ascending colon and hepatic flexure clogged with fecal matter; considerable gas; distinct lumpy condition throughout breasts, more marked in upper, outer quadrant. Prescribed abdominal and breast supports; laxatives; high alkaline colonic irrigations several times a week; diet; tonic; special exercise. June, 1920: Patient stated she was no longer a "nervous wreck"; when careful of diet and bowels there is no soreness in breasts. Considers herself well. August, 1920: Excellent condition; breasts normal.

Case 5.—A. G.; age forty-eight years; female; married. First seen December 9, 1918. Complained of pain and discomfort in left breast. On examination, found breasts very large, dependent, and the inner quadrant of left one slightly lobulated; no real tumor formation. Prescribed breast support; laxatives, with usual hygienic regime and careful watching. June, 1920: Lumpy condition of breasts entirely relieved—still a little soreness; constipation improved.

*********************************************************************************

SUMMARY

1. There are definite abnormal changes in the breast tissue, as in the thyroid gland, from intestinal toxemia.

2. Treatment by medical and mechanical means, or surgical intervention for the cure of the intestinal stasis, often means complete return to the normal of the lumpy or toxic breasts.

3. At times it is necessary to remove a definite, localized tumor from the breast, in addition to the above, before the mammary tissue regains its normal texture.

4. Care must be taken that these abnormal changes are not overlooked in their early stages; and not diagnosticated as cancer when well developed.

5. In this connection, an important question must be noted: Would an early recognition of a toxic breast and timely and efficient treatment of the underlying intestinal causes, tend to lessen the danger of malignant degeneration? If this is so, then we have here an important contributory factor in the etiology of cancer of the breast.