Ayurveda Treatment for Cancer

Evidence-Based Ayurveda Treatment and Diet for Cancer

Description:
Ayurveda, Scientifically proven Herbal medicines Curcumin, Ashwagandha, medicated CBD & and lifestyle-dietary changes, Controlled fasting, etc. help to improve Immunity, Reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, and Improve the quality of life of Cancer patients. And also helps in preventing the spread and metastasis if taken at early stages. However, Surgery, Chemotherapy & Radiation are essential if the Patient’s physical condition is fit to receive it. These standardized herbal medicines & diets support ongoing conventional medicines.

Out of 35000 herbs screened by NIH-NCI, 3000 herbs were proven to have reproducible anti-cancer potential. At Tata Memorial Hospital of Cancer, Mumbai, various clinical trials are done to establish the safety & efficacy of herbs in various Cancers. I’m fortunate enough to get an opportunity to work over there as a clinical investigator. I provide all such safe and efficacious herbs. For those who have taken either immediately or before the spread of cancer in the body, the success rate is pretty good.

Unfortunately, in the late stages, nothing much can be done, except to have a good quality of life & palliative care.

Root Cause of Cancer, Genetic or Metabolic:

Any disease can be successfully treated or managed if its root cause is known and targeted effectively.
Thanks to the research in Molecular biology with which it is now getting established that Cancer is also a “Metabolic” disease. Rather than labeling it as a “Genetic Disease” (Only 5 to 10 percent of cancer cases have inherited or inborn error of Mutated Gene but in 90% of the cases Genetic mutation occurs due to environmental factors like Wrong Diet, smoking, Alcohol, and Infection & Increasing evidence suggests that Obesity is also linked with an increasing risk of cancers. Further, unless supported by wrong cellular metabolism, the cancer process will not get boost. So Cellular metabolism due to healthy Mitochondria plays a key role in cancers)
The disease process is initiated in our cellular ” Power House” called, Mitochondria, and then through a reverse messaging system inside the cell, faulty messages are sent to the nucleus and a Cancerous process is spread. Sometimes, it may take a decade or two to completely transform a normal cell into a “Cancerous” cell. During this phase, there are important changes occur in the cell, which is called ” field effect” or “Field defect “which can be picked by certain metabolic investigations. This breakthrough research shall help doctors to detect Cancer in a very earliest or in a “pre-primary” stages and consequently disease can be prevented and treated with a great percentage of the rate of success. This will definitely reduce the number deaths and deformities happening due to Cancers.

What is Mitochondria and how it can be explained in terms of Ayurveda?

In Ayurveda, this cellular powerhouse i.e. “Mitochondria” can be compared with a very important factor, called ” Agni”. Surprisingly, there are word to word similarities between the structural and functional description of “mitochondria” and “Agni” as follows:

Both are said to be inherited through Mother only (that’s why we must thank and worship our Mother).
Both are responsible for converting food to bodily consumable energy and for nurturing tissues and organs.
Both are the site of the production of heat, essential for survival and for the burning of Fat.
Both are dynamic and in a fluid state (Agni resides in one of the Humours, called-Pitta).
Both are essential for the growth and responsible for death of the non-functioning cells,
Both are essential for various metabolic processes related to calcium, iron, hormones, detoxification and so on and so forth.

In Ayurveda, it is said that a person is healthy till his/ her “Agni” is robust. A person becomes diseased if Agni is vitiated and Person succumbs to death when his/ her “Agni” is doused completely. The same is the description and importance of modern Mitochondria. So much was the vision of our ancient scientist, who without the help of a microscope had discovered and described the minutest portion and function of Cell biology and wrote down for the generations.

Which factors spoil or vitiate Agni and Mitochondria

External – Pollution, Toxins, Pesticides, Tobacco, Alcohol, Excess amount of Sugar, Bakery products, Excess of red meat, infection etc.
Wrong dietary lifestyle,
Internal – Stress, Obesity, Free radicals (metabolic waste) and hormonal
Genetic in some few cases genetic mutation of DNA nucleus, which is also described in Ayurveda as “Beej Dosha”

What are the special features of Cancer cells?

Failure to Apoptosis – Failure to die — Every cell, which is born has to die after some time but cancer cells are immortal
Ability to Metastasize – Tissues or cells of one system do not go the territory of other tissues but Cancerous cells invade and spread to other tissues
Skip the immunity – Generally, abnormal cells are fired by immunity but cancer cells deceive immunity and escape their firing
Altered Metabolism – Cancerous cells, in spite of presence of Oxygen, do not oxidize glucose but ferment it
Increased angiogenesis – They pull blood circulation to them and generate smaller fragile capillaries for nourishments. These cancerous cells spread via these capillaries to other part of the body from their main origin. For eg Breast cancer cells travel through capillaries and enter main circulation and reach to Lungs, Brain, liver, bones and grow there.
Uncontrolled growth – Cancer cells suppress all check points and grow or multiply in uncontrolled way by a large number. All these cells are abnormal and can not perform healthy functions required for normal survival.

All these features are explained in a nutshell in the following paragraph

Once the Mitochondria (or Agni) is vitiated it stops or reduces the metabolizing and processing of food juices received by cells, hence cells turn to other pathway called “Aerobic Glycolysis or Aerobic Fermentation” due to which Glucose (the major energy supplier) is completely converted (fermented) into Lactic acid and there is a Metabolic shift in the process which produces “less of energy” ( that is the reason patient feels lethargic and weak) and “more of raw material” is produced like fatty acid, Nucleic acid, Amino acids, etc which are used for the multiplication and uncontrolled growth of cancerous cells (which produces Tumor) .

The lactic acid helps cancer cells to break the protecting wall of Matrix around the cell and hence cancer cell can invade or infect other normal tissues and grow (this called Metastasis – spreading to other’s area). This is how Cancer progress and these Cancer cells eat up a major part of nutrition, depriving of healthy tissues. Due to abnormally functioning Mitochondria, all “death signals“ are stopped and hence Cancerous cells become “immortal” and they generate progeny of “immortal Cancerous cells”. IN order to get nourishment by multiplying cells, cancerous cells stimulate budding of more and more blood vessels (Angiogenesis) which brings more and more food for the growth of Cancerous tissue.

Due to the production of Lactic acid and Carbonic acid, immunity is not able to reach them and destroy them hence cancerous cells are shielded from the attack of Immunity.

Following are the general principles to treat all kinds of cancer

Treatment which helps to stop initiation of cancerous process, by acting on Mother stem cells of cancer and other pathways (Arresting Oncogenesis) e.g. Ashwagandha
Treatment which improves micro environment, which weakens the cancer cells and compels them to die (Apoptosis) e.g. Kalmegha, Turmeric
⁠Treatment blocks the angiogenesis, thereby arrests the spread and growth of cancer cells. (Anti angiogenesis) e.g. Ashwagandha
⁠Treatment which improves cancer specific immunity thereby helps to eradicate cancer cells (Immunomodulatory) e.g. Giloy, Cannabis, Gold Nano particles, Ashwagandha
⁠Treatment which improves healthy mitochondria to support growth of robust normal cells (Metbolic enhancement) e.g. Ginger, Pippali, Chitraka, Black tea
⁠Treatment which arrest DNA damage and improve cell repairing mechanism (Genetic) e.g. intermittent fasting, Controller diet, Turmeric.
⁠Treatment which improves quality of life. e.g. all of the above herbs, Diet, Meditation and Yoga.

How can Ayurveda treatment help to combat Cancer?

It is now established that “reverse” signalling from dysfunctional or abnormal Mitochondria to Nucleus play an important role in the initiation and progress of Cancer cells and conversely it is also proven that Healthy Mitochondria can suppress the growth of cancer cells and make them more susceptible to the treatment. So any drug or treatment which can improve Mitochondrial function can modify the course of the disease and arrest its growth. In this article, we have seen that Mitochondria and Agni are the same organelles and in Ayurveda, for cancer following treatment is provided:

To remove the toxins, excess amount of dirty Pitta, Kapha and Vata which are known to impair the functions of Agni.
To restore and strengthen the metabolic functioning of Agni due to which further chain of events are curtailed and disease process comes under control.
To change the cellular environment, which breaks down or absorb the Lactic acid which is produced by cancerous cells. By this, Cancer cells lose their ability to spread and metastasize.
To improve the Immunity which then destroys Cancerous cells.
There are certain herbs, like Neem which stimulates tumour suppressor pathways and compel the body to produce more tumour’s death promoting (Apoptosis) chemicals and reduce anti-apoptotic (Anti Death signals) chemicals; all of these modalities lead to the death of cancerous cells and are removed from the system.
There are certain herbs like Tinospora, Pippali which are known to arrest abnormal cell cycle, without affecting the normal cell cycle. This mode of action further reduces the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells.
Some herbs like Ashwagandha reduces budding of newer blood vessels in cancerous tissues, thereby cuts off the nourishment of cancerous tissues.
Some herbs like Turmeric acts blocks the effect of chemicals (like TNF alfa) which are responsible for inflammation and Turmeric also blocks the effect of the growth factor called NF kappa -b, thereby uncontrolled multiplication is arrested. Turmeric improve important protein called P53 which is a major DNA repair protein. Some Herbs like Chitraka blocks HeR2 receptor.
Turmeric and Ashwagandha also stimulate p53 tumour suppressor pathway. Also blocks mTOR receptor. Pippali (Pepper) blocks all abnormal cyclin dependent kinases there by blocking abnormal cell cycle.
Some household herb like Fenugreek absorbs lactic acid and stop glucose supply to cancer cells hence they are deprived of their food and die.

What diet is recommended to a patient suffering from Cancer

The best diet is to follow intermittent fasting or calorie calorie-restricted diet which is sufficient enough to provide all required nutrients to the body and immunity but at the same time, deprives cancer cells of their food and compels them to die. General guidelines are as follows:

Strictly avoid all Maida and bakery products processed food excess of sugars. Sweets.
No Sabudana, no vinegar, no tobacco and no Liquor.
Avoid deep-fried food.
Avoid late night dinner (dinner should be over by 7 pm).
No raw food or salad, especially when on chemotherapy (steamed salad can be taken).
Minimum intake of Sugar with one or two days of ” NO sugar” per week in any form (Which means no White/ brown sugar, No Jaggery, No honey, No fruit juices, no Carrot or beetroot juice).
Once a week fasting as per the advice of expert Vaidya.

FAQ

Are there any steroids in the Herbal medicines

No, I do not do such kind of unscrupulous or unethical practice. My drugs can be tested and subjected to any kind of test for that matter

Are these drugs safe during Chemotherapy

There are certain reports, published in good journals, which has proven the good effect of chemotherapy when combined with herbal treatment. (Care to be taken that herbal treatment should be of standardized quality and should not be given on the day of injectable chemotherapy, rest it can be given. It also depends on the stage and type of cancer, so final decision to be taken only after discussing every pros and cons). There are various clinical studies indicating that if standardized herbal preparations of Curcumin and ashwagandha are given along with chemotherapy, results are better. Many chemo resistant cancers respond very well when supplemented with Curcumin, Ashwagandha, and Tinospora cordifolia.

Can herbal therapy replace or avoid chemotherapy

Answer is No, and one should strictly follow complete modern protocol as it is. Herbal treatment is mainly given to as chemo adjuvant to improve immunity and mitochondrial function and improve tumour micro environment as stated above. So that Relapse and metastasis can be prevented.

Can Ayurveda treatment avoid surgery and radiation

All of you will be surprised to read the fact that, in Ayurveda, which was written 3000 years from now., it is clearly mentioned that, the first line of treatment of Cancer is to surgically remove it and then to " Burn" the margins (called Agnikarma) , this concept is similar to today's modern protocol of Surgery followed by Radiation. So any tumor, if operable, should be removed promptly by an expert Onco-Surgeon.

What is Chemoprevention

Chemo preventives are drugs or measures, Like, natural Herbs Turmeric (Curcumin,) Ashwagandha, the Giloy, Ginger, Pippali, or Dietary & lifestyle modifications that are scientifically proven to have the potential to control or prevent the further growth of cancer. I advise various such Chemo preventive herbs and Lifestyle changes to my patients.

Watch the video on Anti-cancer herbs in Ayurveda

Conclusion

Cancer is also a “Metabolic” disease. (Only 5 to 10 percent) of cancer cases have inherited or inborn error of Mutated Gene but in 90% of the cases Genetic mutation occurs due to environmental factors like Wrong Diet, smoking, Alcohol. Turmeric and Ashwagandha also stimulate p53 tumour suppressor pathway. Avoid late night dinner (dinner should be over by 7 pm). No Sabudana, no vinegar, no tobacco and no Liquor. Strictly avoid all Maida and bakery products processed food excess of sugars Sweets.