Historical Event
Date:
January 1, 1933
Short Description:
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He stated that in his thirty-six years of contact with these people he had never seen a case of malignant disease among the truly primitive Eskimos and Indians, although it frequently occurs when they become modernized.
Title:
Book:
Person:
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration - Romig
URL:
Important Text:
In 1896 a man destined to become the territory's most famous doctor reached southwestern Alaska fresh from medical school; he was Kansas-born, Austrian-descended Joseph Herman Romig. His observations and views on cancer, in relation to Alaska natives, were soon to become well known locally. They do not appear to have reached international circulation until 1939, through the publication of the widely noticed Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price (New York and London). In regard to an interview between these two in 1933, I quote the cited book from the fourth American edition (1945), pages 90-91:
“Anchorage ... has an excellent government hospital which has been built around the life of one man who, many people told us, was the most beloved man in all Alaska. He is Dr. Josef [Joseph] Romig, a surgeon of great skill with experience among the Eskimos and Indians, both the primitive and the modernized ... He stated that in his thirty-six years of contact with these people he had never seen a case of malignant disease among the truly primitive Eskimos and Indians, although it frequently occurs when they become modernized.”
Topics: (click image to open)
Hunter-Gatherer | Hunter-gatherer societies refer to a way of life that prevailed for most of human history, where people relied on hunting wild animals, fishing, and gathering edible plants, fruits, and nuts for their subsistence. This lifestyle was common before the development of agriculture around 10,000 years ago. | |
Eskimo | The Inuit lived for as long as 10,000 years in the far north of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland and likely come from Mongolian Bering-Strait travelers. They ate an all-meat diet of seal, whale, caribou, musk ox, fish, birds, and eggs. Their nutritional transition to civilized plant foods spelled their health demise. | |
Cancer | Cancer is a metabolic disease where the mitochrondria are no longer able to burn fatty acids and instead rely on fermentation of glucose and glutamine. Ketogenic diets have been used to prevent and cure cancer, as they induce a metabolic stress on cancer cells who cannot use ketones as fuel. |