By Rakesh Manchanda

Cancer, in a sense, can be considered to be a result of a community divorced from the Mother Nature. The survival circle in the urban market keeps the consumer of the junk food cut off from the roots using a faulty medicine system.

Expensive 'short cuts' in the culture, the country's neglected agricultural policy, eatables with pesticides, and genetically modified foods have been adopted into the modern lifestyle, thus inviting the cancer.

Cancer is curable now using chemotherapy and other mechanisms designed by Allopathic medicine system. But, these mechanisms have several side effects. Therefore, the need of the hour is to apply our ancient knowledge of natural medicine and find ways for curing cancer without chemotherapy or English medicines.

Side effects of chemotherapy:

Chemotherapy is very efficient in killing rapidly growing cancer cells and has proved to be an effective means of treating cancer. But, the drawback of the chemotherapy is that apart from killing cancerous cells, there are high chances that they may also harm perfectly healthy cells, thus causing several side effects.

Hair loss and balding is the signature side effect of chemotherapy. Other side effects include anxiety, depression, swollen hands and feet, sexual dysfunction, fast tract menopause in women, digestive distress and loss in appetite, mouth sores, nausea, and vomiting.

These side effects get planted into the patient's body and soon emerge as newer problems. The patient is then forced to consume newer medicines to treat these newer problems, thus creating a vicious circle wherein the body becomes completely dependent on the medicine.

What is often missed or deliberately ignored is the emotional trauma and the deteriorating quality of life of the patient that accompanies chemotherapy. Thus, a popular adage says: 'You can recover from cancer, but not from chemotherapy.'

Can herbs assist in fighting cancer?

After a 2000 year old Chinese herbal formula won the recent Nobel Prize in Medicine for the year 2015, the interest for finding a safe and economical anti-cancer herbal formulations appears to have increased.

A new trend among a section of doctors is to prescribe a safe intake of a combination of chemo drugs and herbs like Simarouba. There are considerable research and breakthrough in the usage of herb for treating cancer, but they have been eclipsed by the powerful pharma lobby.

Chemotherapy does not eliminate breast, colon or lung cancers and yet chemo drug are used on these cancers. According to a health website, chemo directly damages DNA and actually boosts cancer growth. There is 68% increase in chemo drugs since 2003 but there is 75% increase in cancer projected by 2030.

What many doctors and the people in 'cancer industry' will not tell is that safe herbs are available at almost zero cost to counter the cancer growth activated by chemo. Instead, the pharma lobby continues to promote more allopathic medicines for imparting more side effects and more profits.

Thanks to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research & University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore, an alternate, safe, and fast anti-cancer dose is available today in a pure raw herb form to stop stage 1 and 2 of cancer. Stages 3 and 4 need a combination of herbs with chemotherapy or radiation to ensure better health. Dr. S. Joshi, Bangalore based scientist, engaged since 25 years in herb research, says: "Cancer is not cured with surgical instruments, but with a vegetarian diet and herbs."

It is high time that people are made aware about herb treatments available to fight cancer that are both safe and affordable.

(Rakesh Manchanda is an activist from past 28 years and is currently working as volunteer with various NGOs in India and Africa)