Cancer is a deadly disease which is spreading exponentially amongst the masses. It does not see age, gender, social status, financial status while attacking a person. Now-a-days there is every person who has a cancer victim amidst his family and friends. The moment the person knows that he is suffering from cancer, it feels that the world has come to an end. He knows that this disease will leave him physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially devastated.
A cancer affected person’s first question to himself and to the doctor is “Why me”? There are patients whom I know that they have never had alcohol, tobacco or cigarettes in the past. They are not an outside food lover but still cancer did not spare them from its trap!
A cancer patient once moved me by saying “Chemotherapy kills the person before cancer does!” He had experienced the ordeal of chemotherapy before and now he did not want to endure again at the age of 80 due to its relapse. He responded well to Ayurvedic treatment. Many doctors argue that it is not that cancer has become common, but its detection is now-a-days easy and so more cases are coming to light. This holds true, but our changing diet and lifestyle patterns cannot be undermined, and they should be held responsible for inviting cancer like fatal disease.
Researches say that there are few factors which should not be ignored:
1. Lack of breastfeeding increases the risk of cancer
Women today, due to their working roles, cannot devote time for breastfeeding. There are many women who want to breastfeed their babies but due to poor milk production cannot feed. This is again a result of diet and hormonal imbalance. You should consult an Ayurveda expert for this. Western countries have now started encouraging breastfeeding to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
2. Poor menstrual cycles
I have come across many patients in my practice who experience skipped periods or scanty menstrual bleeding. But due to their hectic life they pay no heed to it which is a wrong thing. There are many medicines in Ayurveda to regulate menstrual cycles which thereby reduces the risk of cancer.
3. More intake of processed food
In this instant world, we do not have time to cook food. We depend on ready to eat food or processed canned food. Furthermore, eating in lavish restaurants has become a fad now-a-days. Children are seen gorging on fizzy drinks, breads, cakes, chips, and sweets. There have been studies which substantiate the fact that such type of food causes cancer.
4. More use of cosmetics
Be it young girls, middle aged women or old age women, everyone wants to look beautiful. The markets are cluttered with beauty products promising fair, wrinkle free, and glowing skin. Women fall prey to using such products and become prone to getting cancer. We know many celebrities have been engulfed by this deadly disease, may be because they use lot of cosmetic products.
5. Pollution
Air, water, and land are heavily polluted today. The air that we breathe is laced with pollutants causing risk of lung cancer. It can cause more harm than smoking a cigarette. Water of the rivers is dumped with garbage. Insecticides and pesticides are used in farms to reap fruits before time. These, when ingested, invite cancer like disease.
AYURVEDIC APPROACH TO CANCER
Ayurveda uses holistic approach to treat this progressive disease. There are medicines in Ayurveda which helps the body fight against it. These medicines aim at reducing the metastasis in the body, regeneration of new tissues, detoxifying, and cleansing the body. It can wonderfully work as a co-therapy with chemo and radiotherapy. The patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy are debilitated. Ayurvedic medicines can be a boon for such patients to increase their strength and boost their immunity.
Cancer takes a toll on mental well-being of the patient. Ayurvedic treatment gives mental strength to such patients. The biggest strength of Ayurveda is its Rasayan Chikitsa—meaning rejuvenating the body—which is very much inevitable in cancer. Fighting against cancer is an exhausting journey, which can be made easy with patient’s will power, grit determination, and faith in his doctor as well as the treatment.