Editorial - Evincing the Role of Rasayana (Rejuvenation) Therapy in Managing Cancer and the Side Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation

Cancer is an abnormal growth of the cells in an uncontrolled manner. It is the second most common non-communicable diseases which every individual prays of not being affected with, where the available treatment options are more awful than the disease itself. There are more than 100 varieties of cancer identified till date and are classified or group based on their origin (cells) or place of affliction (organ). An estimated number of around 2.5 million people are living with cancer in India alone [1] and every year, over 7 lakh new cancer patients are registered and one woman dies of cervical cancer every 8 minutes in India. [2] Even though survivability of cancer affected patients have increased with development of chemotherapy & radiotherapy, the adverse effects have depreciated the quality of life in these patients. There are approximately more than 45 reported physical symptoms and 28 non physical symptoms as the adverse effects of the cancer therapies.[3] A lot of support and money for research to develop successful treatment modalities for cancer and to combat the adverse reactions of the chemotherapy and radiation have been poured in by many countries worldwide, however nothing substantial has been achieved till date.