Description
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements.
Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths. Another 10% are due to obesity, poor diet, lack of physical activity or excessive drinking of alcohol. Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation and environmental pollutants.
In the developing world, 15% of cancers are due to infections such as Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus infection, Epstein–Barr virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Traditional medicines were the most popular in India before the introduction of allopathy in the country in the 19th century.
Though allopathic medicines are known to offer relief to the patient instantly, they also have side effects that could adversely affect various organs in the body. Many other traditional forms of medicine are considered to have no side effects.
In one such study, researchers from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Karnataka, and Anna University, Chennai, have evaluated the anti-cancer properties of Pattu Karuppu, a traditional Siddha medicine, according to a report in Research Matters website.
The Siddha system of medicine has its origin in Tamil Nadu and is similar to Ayurveda where extracts of different plants are used to treat various diseases. Pattu Karuppu is a mercury-based Siddha medicine prepared by the combination of acidic and alkaline substances and is rich in mercuric sulphide (HgS). While mercury is well-known for its curative effects, sulphur neutralises the toxicity of the medicine and makes it more effective.
While Pattu Karuppu is used to treat pain during menstruation (dysmenorrhoea), the absence of menstrual cycle (amenorrhoea) and delirium, its anticancer properties have not yet been explored. In this study, for the first time, the researchers look into the physical and chemical properties of this formulation and evaluate its effects on healthy cells, the report in Research Matters pointed out.
The researchers examined a sample of Pattu Karuppu under an electron microscope and found that it contains nanoparticles with an average size of 20-80 nanometers. These come together and form a ‘broccoli-like’ structure. A chemical analysis of the compound showed that it mainly contains carbon and oxygen, with traces of mercury, arsenic and sulphur. “The sample was found to have stable and spherical (porous) particles with size ranges between 20-80 nanometres. The negatively charged, nanosize and relatively high surface area of the particles were used to evaluate its biological action”, say the authors.
The researchers then tested different concentrations of the formulation on cell lines in labs. They observed that the formulation could inhibit the growth of cancerous cells. To determine the ‘safe’ concentrations of Pattu Karuppu, they tested it on zebrafish. They observed that at high concentrations, the zebrafish developed problems with the rate of heartbeat (arrhythmias) and clotting of the blood cells in the heart. The results confirmed that a concentration of 100μg/ml was the safest, a finding that differentiates Pattu Karuppu from other toxic mercurial, Research Matters report added.
The study promises new hope for cancer patients whose life is bogged down by the side effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. As a next step, the authors plan to conduct similar studies on mouse models that could pave the way for effective anticancer drugs.
Meanwhile another research found that there was no evidence of cancer in Indus Valley sites.
Evidence of cancer in early humans were found in a review of 154 paleopathological studies dating back to 1.8 million years in historic Egyptian and German sites. However, the study, “History of Growing Burden of Cancer in India from Antiquity to 21st century”, published in the Journal of Global Oncology, states that no comprehensive historical review could be gathered scanning through voluminous data on medical literature from prehistoric times.
Dr. Mohandas Mallath, the co-author of the study states that no paleo-oncology reports of cancer have been recorded at the Indus Valley civilization or Deccan Chalcolithic sites except for mention of some benign osteomas. Fewer samples and poor preservation were some of the limitations of these studies, he was quoted as saying in The Hindu report.
The research led the authors to search in all kinds of published data from the PubMed to various scholar databases online and prominent archives of the Bristish Library, Tata in Pune, publications by Government, WHO. International cancer research organisations and also data on demography, epidemiology, disease burden and so on.
The study says, there are references to cancer-like symptoms in many ancient texts including the ‘Atharva Veda’ and two ancient medical systems, Ayurveda and Siddha, which have been in use for more than 2,500 years. These texts mention the use of surgery and herbal medications for these diseases. The ancient medical classics of India have devoted little attention to cancer-like illnesses, suggesting a low prevalence of cancer in those times perhaps, said Dr. Mallath.
No original texts on cancer were found in any of the AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) texts browsed, he said. Autopsy, which was used to train in Ayurvedic surgery, declined during the Buddhist period starting around 400 BC because of the concept of ahimsa (non-violence). It probably halted discovery of deep-seated cancers later on, Dr Mallath suspects.
Tibetan medicine describes a cancer-like disease as Dre-Nay, the Greco-Arabic system, called Unani-Tibbs medicine had termed it Sartan, meaning crab in Persian. Several Europeans works from the 16th century mention Indian plants, drugs and formularies used by the natives in cancer treatment. Besides the famous works like Coloquios dos Simples e Drogas da India, in 1563 and Hortus Indicus Malabaricus 1678 to 1693, there were medical writings in 17th and 18th centuries with references to cancers. Creation of the Indian Medical Service (IMS), helped in diagnosing cancers. Its early publication makes passing reference to cancer.
Reference of malignant cases were found in F.H. Brett’s publication from Calcutta, A Practical Essay on Some of the Principle Surgical Diseases of India, and also in the 1856 work of C. Morehead from Grant Medical College in Bombay.
In 1866, W.J. Elmslie was the first to publish a series of 30 patients with epithelioma, including the unique cancer associated with the use of a kangri pot, among 5,080 patients from Srinagar in Kashmir.
From 1880 to 1910, there were more than a dozen case series and audits published on cancer in India.
Patients diagnosed with cancer were predominantly male, because women rarely used Western medical facilities given cultural norms. The importance of older age in the development of cancer was recognized, and the difficulties in obtaining the real age of native Indians were stressed in the clinical manual for India in 1897.
