AHMEDABAD: Due to lifestyle and other factors, the prevalence of different types of cancer is on the rise in India and other countries. In such a scenario, experts participating in the eighth edition of World Ayurveda Congress - organized at Gujarat University Convention Centre in the city - stressed on documenting ancient practices of Ayurveda to fight cancer and mentioned that the system can augment allopathic treatment.

On Friday, the four-day event was inaugurated by Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani.

On the first day, a session titled ‘Exploring evidence-based and comparative effectiveness of research methods to evaluate Ayurvedic interventions for cancer’ saw paper presentations on themes such as mechanism and mode of action of Ayurvedic formulations, validation of Ayurvedic medicines in pre-clinical research, Ayurveda to protect normal tissue damage during radiation therapy and chemotherapy and Ayurveda as preventive method.

Vd Pawan Kumar Godatwar, secretary of the event’s organizing committee, said that world over, patients are looking at Ayurveda as way of life and preventive method.

“Scientific papers stressed on documentation of our rich legacy. Researchers world over are now applying concepts such as network biology and immunology to Ayurveda. We are encouraging Ayurveda practitioners to document their findings which are acceptable to larger medical community,” he said, adding that cancer is a major theme for the event and Ayurveda can surely augment the allopathic treatment for the condition.

From the research

Use of poultice with preparations containing neem, which has antibiotic properties, can be used to manage foul smelling fungating wounds to control infections. Herbal decoctions can be used to clean the wounds and dressings can be made with ayurvedic remedies. This can minimize the use of antibiotics.

Trials of ayurvedic treatments were found to be effective on patients undergoing chemotherapy. A paper claimed that ayurvedic treatment reduced natural killer cells.

A paper described a number of conditions associated with cancer in ancient texts of Ayurveda and said that the condition can be managed with right course of treatment. Experts however said that the treatment depends a lot on the patient’s condition.