The Hard Truth
Modern science is yet to discover effective remedies for deadly diseases such as cancer, AIDS, or other hematological and auto-immune disorders. These diseases are very complicated in nature with complexity at every level—anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and gene expression. So treating such diseases is a big challenge.
Numerous techniques are employed to combat these diseases, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, interferon therapy, hormone therapy, and blood transfusion. But the remedies that are currently in use are either only for reducing the immediate complications associated with these diseases or for slowing down the proliferation of the diseases.
There has been only limited success in the cure of these diseases due to various factors such as resistance, difficulty in targeting the affected area, and the huge costs involved. Additionally, toxicity of the drugs, ablative surgery, radiation damage, and chemotherapy hazards make the situation worse. With all conventional therapeutics, an overall 2.4% survival of cancer patients has been reported within 5 years after diagnosis.
The Ayurvedic Perspective
The word ‘cancer’ may be new to the 5,000 year old Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda, which relies on natural substances for healing. But ancient Ayurvedic classics are aware of the clinical features, resembling cancer, with the names such as Apachi, Gulma, Granthi, and Arbuda. Following are names of some of the conditions mentioned in Ayurvedic classics that have relevance to cancer manifestations in modern medicine.
Modern science is yet to discover effective remedies for deadly diseases such as cancer, AIDS, or other hematological and auto-immune disorders. These diseases are very complicated in nature with complexity at every level—anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and gene expression. So treating such diseases is a big challenge.
Numerous techniques are employed to combat these diseases, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, interferon therapy, hormone therapy, and blood transfusion. But the remedies that are currently in use are either only for reducing the immediate complications associated with these diseases or for slowing down the proliferation of the diseases.
There has been only limited success in the cure of these diseases due to various factors such as resistance, difficulty in targeting the affected area, and the huge costs involved. Additionally, toxicity of the drugs, ablative surgery, radiation damage, and chemotherapy hazards make the situation worse. With all conventional therapeutics, an overall 2.4% survival of cancer patients has been reported within 5 years after diagnosis.
The Ayurvedic Perspective
The word ‘cancer’ may be new to the 5,000 year old Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda, which relies on natural substances for healing. But ancient Ayurvedic classics are aware of the clinical features, resembling cancer, with the names such as Apachi, Gulma, Granthi, and Arbuda. Following are names of some of the conditions mentioned in Ayurvedic classics that have relevance to cancer manifestations in modern medicine.