Eskimo

Miss Keaton advised us to get in touch with the widow of Dr. Smith, a trained nurse, to check her [Miss Keaton's] report on Dr. Smith's views. Mrs. Marguerite Smith answered on July 19, 1957, from 803 Fourth Avenue, Puyallup, Washington:

“It has long been my wish that Dr. Smith's observations concerning the incidence of cancer ... be made known ... I was with him after 1936, and many times he remarked that he had never encountered cancer among the natives (Eskimos) prior to that time. During the time I was in Kotzebue, 1936-41, we had only two malignancies, one in 1938, the second I believe in 1940 ... Both patients were in their late fifties ...

“Since leaving the hospital, I personally know of two women in their thirties who have died from cancer of the cervix ... Both had acquired the white man's way of living. During the time I was there I believe there were on the average one or two cases of non-native cancer pet year ...”

Dr. Thomas Marcom, formerly of northwestern Alaska, wrote from 327 Wesley Gardens, Des Moines, Washington, on January 11, 1958:

“My experience in Nome covered the years from 1936 to 1946, during which time I was privileged to see a large portion of the Eskimo population in Nome and surrounding areas, including the coast, the interior, the Diomedes, King and St. Lawrence Islands. I know of only one case of cancer ... of the penis which had been operated upon by Dr. Rex Swartz, my predecessor. I followed the case for about eight years. The man died at an age beyond 70. I diagnosed no case.”

Nome, though it was a prosperous district for a decade or two after 1900, has not shared much in recent Alaska prosperity. Consequently most natives, between the Yukon delta and Point Hope, still live mainly on fish and game which they themselves secure.

Abstract : The observations were made in Angmagssalik in 1936-1937. The natural Eskimo diet was found to provide oh the average 299 g. protein, 169 g. fat and 22 g. carbohydrate, equivalent to 2800 Cal., with 0.5 g. Ca and 2 g. P per man value. Per head the energy value of the diet was 1900 Cal. per day, and the vitamin C [ascorbic acid] intake averaged 36 mg., of which one-half was derived from marine algae. The daily vitamin A intake was judged to be about 50, 000 I: U. per head.
Influenza and pneumonia occurred, especially in the summer and autumn, after visits of ships; Colds occurred frequently but ear and sinus complications were rare. Tuberculosis seemed to have a comparatively mild course. Acne was not seen, but carbuncles and impetigo were frequent, especially in the winter. Obesity, albuminuria, goitre and chronic constipation were not seen. Arteriosclerosis was relatively common and occurred at an early age. Convulsions in children under one year were frequent. Rickets was not seen in Eskimos living on a primitive diet. Bleeding of the navel in the newborn and from the nose and lungs in adults was frequent. The visual acuity in dim light was higher in the Eskimos than in North European seamen. Basal metabolism was on the average 13 per cent. higher in the Eskimos than that prediered bythe DU Bois standard. R.Q. values lower than 0.7 were not observed in starvation experiments, hut lower values were found on diets rich in fat. Ketone bodies were not commonly found in the urine, in spite of the low carbohydrate intake, and appeared in small amounts only in starvation and on diets rich in fat. The N.P.N. and the CO2-binding capacity of the plasma were 29 mg. per 100 ml. and 60 volumes per cent., respectively. The fasting blood sugar averaged 88 mg. per 100 ml.-R. Nicolaysen (Norway).

“In 1936 I went to Nain from Hopedale and was again told, by the late Reverend Paul Hettasch, that cancer was unknown among the Eskimos. But during the following winter, 1937-38, an Eskimo woman, Leah Ikkusak, became ill, was later transferred to hospital, and returned home in 1940 with inoperable cancer of the womb. [She was the widow of the white man, Robert Ford: who had died of cancer.]

"That night for the first time I ate at the same meal caribou, seal, frozen fish, and musk-ox. The caribou was excellent, especially after it had been smoked during the summer. The fish, too, despite the fact that it was frozen so hard that it could not be chewed. Seal meat was less to my taste, and as for musk-ox, I never want to eat it again. Chewing its fat is exactly like chewing tallow."