It has been found that the brain produces chemicals similar to morphine. These are called endorphins. Regular exercise seems to increase the production of these chemicals and produce a feeling of wellbeing. Perhaps you can become hooked on your own endorphins.

But the picture is not all good. Those who are out of condition should begin slowly. Ligaments, joints and muscles become soft and flabby with lack of exercise and too sudden a strain by running on hard ground or doing too much too soon can lead to muscle and ligament strain.

If you are more than 35 and wish to start an exercise program, you should have a medical check before you embark on a get fit campaign.

It is recommended that those over 40 or 45 should have a stress test before starting to exercise regularly. This involves having an electrocardiograph during exercise to see if the effort of exercise reveals any evidence of heart abnormalities under stress.

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Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women.

A fifth of all cancers in women develop in the breast. Eventually one woman in 20 will develop breast cancer and in Australia 1600 women will die each year from it.

The cause of breast cancer is unknown.

Cancer of the breast is rare in men and also in women under 25. Its incidence is greatest in the age group 40 to 50. It is more common in the unmarried and the less fertile — just the opposite of the next commonest female cancer, that of the cervix or neck of the womb.

‘As with all cancers, the earlier it is found and treated the better the results.

Regular palpation or feeling the breasts can detect lumps, which can be further checked to see if they are cancerous.

The doctor should regularly feel his women patients’ breasts, but the woman can be taught to do this herself.

Not all lumps turn out to be cancer, but I believe a doctor should be consulted about any lump in the breast.

Biopsy is best carried out by frozen section. The lump is removed, then snap-frozen using carbon dioxide snow, cut into thin sections and examined under the microscope. An experienced pathologist can give an accurate opinion within minutes and if cancer is present the surgeon can go ahead and do the proper operation.

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I am saying that many practitioners who specialise in treating cancer routinely advise unpleasant treatment that is unlikely to produce any substantial benefit and that they persist in recommending various anti-cancer treatments right to the bitter end. These practitioners seem unable to recognise any point when the possible benefit for the person with cancer is too small to justify the ‘cost’ for the person with cancer of starting or continuing further treatment. I emphasise the words ‘for the person with cancer’ because I believe this is the key to understanding this behaviour. And let’s face it—the sorts of behaviour I have described could seem crazy to any observer with a bit of commonsense who knows what the treatments involve and how unlikely they are to produce any real benefit.

I believe the basic problem is that these practitioners do not act according to what is best for their individual patients. They behave like a conceited general whose soldiers are people with cancer, whose weapons are anti-cancer treatments and whose enemies are cancer and death. The general can observe the battles from a safe vantage point on a nearby mountain top. His aim is to win the battle, not to do what is best for his individual soldiers. Even when the odds are overwhelming and defeat certain, he refuses to give the order to surrender. The soldiers are not kept informed of the stage the battle is at nor given the opportunity to decide for themselves to surrender. The general will not order a surrender because this would mean admitting to his soldiers and to himself that he is not all-powerful and that he cannot control the enemy. He would rather that his soldiers die in battle than that they realise that there are limits to his power.

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