Lucius Duncan Bulkley (January 12, 1845 – July 20, 1928) was an American

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...

and

alternative cancer treatment Alternative cancer treatment describes any cancer treatment or practice that is not part of the conventional standard of cancer care. These include special diets and exercises, chemicals, herbs, devices, and manual procedures. Most alternative ...

advocate.

Biography

Bulkley was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His father was Henry Daggett Bulkley.Crissey, John Thorne; Parish, Lawrence C; Holubar, Karl. (2002). ''Historical Atlas of Dermatology and Dermatologists''. Parthenon Publishing. p. 81. In 1869, he obtained his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.Sprague, John Franklin. (1893)
''New York, The Metropolis: Its Noted Business and Professional Men''
The New York Recorder. pp. 39-40. He was house physician at New York Hospital and travelled to Europe to study dermatology in London, Paris and Vienna. Bulkley was awarded the Stevens Triennial Prize from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, for his essay ''Thermometry in Disease'' and the Alvarenga prize by the

College of Physicians of Philadelphia The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest private medical society in the United States. Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the disease ...

for his monograph ''Syphilis in the Innocent'', in 1891. He was Chairman of Dermatology and Syphilology of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's sta ...

. He was President of the New York Dermatological Society and the New York Academy of Medicine. Bulkley edited the ''Archives of Dermatology'' (1874-1882), the only journal in English during this period devoted to dermatology. He founded the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital in 1883. He wrote on a variety of subjects including acne, eczema, relationship of diet to skin disease and cancer. His 1885 book ''Acne, Its Etiology, Pathology, And Treatment'', was positively reviewed in the ''The BMJ, British Medical Journal'' as a useful monograph for practitioners. It was the first textbook on acne. Bulkley advocated a vegetarian diet for treatment of psoriasis and other skin diseases. He died in Englewood, New Jersey, age 84.

Cancer research

Bulkley believed that the fundamental cause of cancer was faulty metabolism, largely influenced by unhealthy dieting. He recommended his patients to practice simple living and avoid consuming meat, alcohol (drug), alcohol, tea and coffee.Anonymous. (1915). ''Reviewed Work: Cancer: Its Cause And Treatment by L. Duncan Bulkley''. ''The BMJ, British Medical Journal'' 2 (2846): 100.Anonymous. (1920)
''The Medical Treatment of Cancer''
''Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society'' 10: 197-198. Bulkley held the same view of Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, 1st Baronet, William Arbuthnot Lane that intestinal stasis may cause cancer.Anonymous. (1915)
''Cancer, Its Cause and Treatment''
''Medical Record (journal), Medical Record'' 87: 706. He commented that "I feel like saying that the toxins produced by the millions of micro-organisms generated through intestinal stasis and fecal putrefaction, are the real, incidental cause of cancer." Bulkley argued that cancer is more frequent in advanced and richer nations, among people who indulge in luxuries. He noted that cancer occurs less frequently in rice-eating countries where little meat is eaten. He believed that cancer is a disease of civilization and can be cured by dietary, hygienic and medical measures without surgery.Lerch, Otto. (1919)
''Rational Therapy''
The Southworth Company. p. 68 He firmly opposed the surgical treatment of cancer. Bulkley recommended a Vegetarianism, vegetarian diet, moderate exercise, a simple life without stress and sufficient sleep to treat cancer.Kenton, F. Reese. (1928)
''The Medical Treatment of Cancer''
''The American Journal of Clinical Medicine'' 28: 82. His recommended diet consisted of vegetables, fruits, butter, bread and cereals. The occasional egg or use of milk was allowed. He also prescribed the use of potassium acetate.

Reception

The ''Historical Atlas of Dermatology and Dermatologists'', notes that: His two-volume book ''Cancer: Its Cause and Treatment'', was widely reviewed in medical journals. Bulkley was the editor of ''Cancer: A Practical Quarterly Journal Devoted to the Best Interests of Cancer''.Anonymous. (1923). ''"Cancer"''. ''The BMJ, British Medical Journal'' 2 (3287): 1272. Physician Albert G. Hulett criticized the journal for rejecting radiotherapy and surgery. Another critic wrote that Bulkley and his collaborators from the journal were promoting unsafe treatments. Bulkley's book ''Cancer and its Non-Surgical Treatment'', published in 1921 was widely criticized by the medical community. A review in the ''JAMA (journal), Journal of the American Medical Association'' described it as an "unsourced and unpropitious book" and Bulkley's dietary ideas and opposition to surgical treatment of cancer as a "medical heresy". In 1924, Henry H. Whitehouse President of the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital sent a letter to the ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' stating that the medical profession and staff of the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital reject Bulkley's dietary treatment for cancer.

Selected publications

*''The Skin in Health and Disease'' (1880)
''Manual of Diseases of the Skin''
(1882)
''Acne, its Etiology, Pathology and Treatment''
(1885) *''Syphilis in the Innocent'' (1894)
''On the Restriction of Meat in the Treatment of Psoriasis''
(''Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette'', 1897)
''Eczema With An Analysis of Eight Thousand Cases of the Disease''
(1901)
''The Value of an Absolutely Vegetarian Diet in Psoriasis''
(1908)
''Diet and Hygiene in Diseases of the Skin''
(1913)
''Cancer: Its Cause and Treatment''
(1915)
''Medical Aspects of Cancer''
(''Medical Record'', 1915)
''Cancer From a Medical Standpoint''
(''New York State Journal of Medicine'', 1916)
''Medical Versus Surgical Treatment of Cancer''
(''Medical Record'', 1919)
''The Medical Treatment of Cancer''
(1919)
''Cancer and its Non-Surgical Treatment''
(1921)
''Proofs of the Constitutional Nature of Cancer''
(''New York Medical Journal'', 1921)
''Cancer is Never a Purely Local Disease''
(''International Clinics'', 1923)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulkley, Lucius Duncan 1845 births 1928 deaths 19th-century American physicians 20th-century American physicians Alternative cancer treatment advocates Alternative detoxification promoters American dermatologists American health and wellness writers American medical researchers American medical writers American vegetarianism activists Cancer researchers New York College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Physicians from Manhattan Simple living advocates