Carcinoma prevention in the light of asbab-e-sitta zarooiah a review

ABSTRACT

"Both in importance and in time, health precedes disease, so we ought to consider first how health may be preserved and then how one may best cure disease" [Galen A.D. 200]. In Unani system of medicine there is a concept of six essentials of life [Asbab-e-Sitta Zarooriah] i.e. Air, Water, Solid and Liquid diet, Activity and Repose, Sleep and Wakefulness, Retention and Evacuation. In order to maintain our health it is necessary to keep these factors at optimum level and it is also necessary in the prevention of carcinoma. A large number of carcinomas are caused or promoted by change in life style factors, controllable by society or individual or both. Tobacco use, alcohol addiction and certain dietary components arc the most well established risk factors. Carcinoma prevention can be achieved by avoiding preventable etiological factors i.e. dietary factors, occupational factors and environmental risk factors. Dietary recommendation, an education about carcinoma prevention and role of physician by focusing on such causative factors, may be effective tools in the fight against carcinoma