Short Communication

Cancer: Supplementing the Knowledge through Indian Traditional Health Care

Sanjeev Rastogi^*
Department of Kaya Chikitsa, State Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Lucknow University, India

^*Corresponding author: Sanjeev Rastogi, Department of Kaya Chikitsa, State Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Lucknow University, India

Published: 19 Jun, 2017
Cite this article as: Rastogi S. Cancer: Supplementing the Knowledge through Indian Traditional Health Care. Clin Oncol. 2017; 2: 1307.

Short Communication

Cancer is a dreadful word for the common people. It is often considered synonymous to the end of life by virtue of in curability and ambiguity of its causes. In the medical science however, we know that a proportional sum of cancers are curable if identified early in the course of the disease. This is also presumed that cancer is having some links with a few precipitating factors and therefore an avoidance to these factors may possibly delay the chances of cancer to occur. Modern science had debated a lot on these issues. Currently available therapies to various cancer types Radiotherapy; Chemotherapy or a combination are not devoid of their side effects. Sometimes, these side effects look more dreadful comparing to the disease itself.
Looking back at the contemporary understanding about the cause and management of the cancers in general, we easily find that an early detection and a possible prevention may be two most crucial areas pertaining to the effective management of cancer. Modern medicine however has no methods to look into these issues as these are beyond the precision of currently employed tools of cancer diagnosis.
Ayurveda, an ancient traditional health keeping practice of Indian subcontinent may help here easing out the dilemma. The symptoms of the cancer are manifested clinically only when the disease starts interfering with the normal physiological functions. The methods of screening of the cancer are often related with the measurement of altered physiological functions in order to look at what is wrong? Eventually, this is the time, when the disease already has escaped from the subclinical to clinical stages. Ayurveda proposes many subjective observations and examination techniques through which a physician may sense an ongoing abnormal process and may think about the upcoming disease event. Roga pariksha (examining the disease) and rogi pariksha (Examining the sick) are two important components of these observations in A Ayurveda. It however requires a high level of individual proficiency before one can make such observations. Prevention is also one grey area of the knowledge about cancers. Many speculations are made for the association of various factors with variety of cancers however nothing could be found definitive. Ayurveda in general proposes the common causes of diseases and also the methods of prevention of diseases. As these are the general principles of health care, they duly apply with the cancer care as well. An idealistic life style with a perfect balance in various domains of life is possibly the universal key to prevent the plethora of diseases including cancer. This is time now, when we need to move one step ahead in curing the disease by preventing them from occurring rather than allowing them to occur. Ayurveda has many promising avenues in this regard which are still waiting for their turn of being known and being utilized for a larger cause.