Abstract:
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. It strikes more than one third of the World’s population and it’s the cause of more than 20% of all deaths. Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells, which can invade and spread to distant sites of the body. Cancer can have severe health consequences, and is a leading cause of death. Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach, and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while breast, colorectal, lung, uterine cervix, and stomach cancer are the most common among women. The knowledge of cancer in the Unani systems of medicine can be traced back to ancient times (131-200 A.D.).According to Unani system of medicine, cancer is essentially a disease of black bile i.e. excessive production and collection of black bile. Cancer mostly occurs in soft tissues like breast, uterus, stomach, intestine, pancreas, prostate, oral cavity & lungs etc. The Unani philosophy is that; cancer is end stage of the degeneration of metabolic efficiency of the body, the extinguishing of the innate heat brought on primarily by incorrect diet and other imbalances in various aspect of patient’s life usually occurring over a period of time. In the Unani view, cancer is not actually one disease, but several hundred different symptoms affecting virtually any organ. As noted above, cancer is a disease of the black bile humor. It can occur with only the black bile humor out of balance, or one or more humors out of balance along with it. In severe cases, all four humors may be disordered. A number of scholars, viz., Galen (131-210 AD), Al-Razi (865-925 AD), Al- Zahrawi (939-1013 AD), Ibn Sina (980- 1037 AD) and al-Karaki (1233- 1286 AD) paid their attention towards the treatment and prevention of cancer. Cancer will be eliminated only when people return to a more balanced, natural lifestyle, and keep the body, mind, and spirit free from impurities.
