A carcinoma or cancer is a malignant tumor, that is, one that tends to grow worse and to reappear if it apparently is removed. The reappearance may be in the same place or in an entirely different portion of the body. Cancer of the uterus is not uncommon in women. It frequently follows neglect of some injury. For example, it will appear on the site of an unrepaired tear. It most commonly comes after the menopause. The change that is undergone at that time seems to stir things up and bring to light any neglected injury. This is another reason why every woman at the menopause should undergo a thorough examination and have any defect repaired, thus avoiding much of the possibility of trouble. A frequent symptom of carcinoma of the uterus is hemorrhage at irregular times after the menopause. Any woman who has such a condition would be wise if she immediately repaired to a physician and determined the cause of the hemorrhage. In the beginning it is possible to remove a cancer, but later it becomes so involved in the surrounding structures that its removal is impossible. You may think I am trying to increase business for the physicians but in reality my advice, if taken, would lessen their practice. It is another application of "a stitch in time saves nine." In the beginning almost all these diseases can be corrected with very little trouble, while if neglected the process is much slower. The probabilities are that the doctor will have the case later, if not consulted early, but instead of a few office treatments he will have an expensive operation. So, you see, I really am trying to save you doctors' bills when I urge early and thorough examinations. There is a peculiar thing about the human race. A machine will get out of order and the owner will send for an expert machinist to repair it--not attempting to patch it up himself. But when these bodies of ours, the most wonderful and complicated of machines, get out of repair we try to patch them up ourselves or try various remedies recommended by those who know worse than nothing about the physical machinery. Then we think we are saving doctors' bills, when at the same time we are spending twice as much on questionable repairs--patent medicines, which often do more harm than good. Frequently they contain stimulants which produce a mythical improvement but leave the system worse off than before. CHAPTER IV CONSTIPATION--HEMORRHOIDS