Breast cancer among nuns
Bernadino Ramazzini (1633-1714) wrote the first full-scale work on occupational health, examining potential hazards in 42 fields. In De morbis artificium (1700) he noted a high rate of breast cancer among nuns. Ramazzini believed the nuns' celibate way of life was the cause. This may have been the first linking of occupation and lifestyle with breast cancer. Elizabeth Throckmorton (1729) by Nicolas de Largilliere, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Arlisa Mellon Bruce Fund