The psycho-spiritual basis of cancer pathogenesis and healing - Dr. Shiva Mohan
Shiva Mohan, M.D., M.P.H., ERYT began her path to healing in neuroscience, and this sparked her interest in the mind-body connection. In Medical School and during her Public Health Masters, she focused her studies on an extension of the mind-body relationship: the effects of community, development, and culture on health behavior. For Siva, consulting in international public health seemed to revolve around a central question: How do we encourage certain health behavior in different settings around the world? “I was most interested in the process of genuinely taking people’s lives into consideration when approaching health. I believe our lifestyles and habits determine our health, and this along with my cultural heritage drew me to ayurveda.” Several years later, Dr. Mohan is fortunate to practice Ayurveda and yoga, addressing health in a personal, individualized and holistic way. Her professional goals now center on writing, lecturing, and continuing to spread the awareness of Ayurveda and how it can complement modern medicine.
Topic: The psycho-spiritual basis of cancer pathogenesis and healing
Introduction: The role of psycho-spiritual patterns is often unacknowledged in cancer pathogenesis.
Methods: Providing counseling and tools to address carcinogenic psycho-spiritual patterns in concert with physiologic remedies (e.g. herbs, radiation, chemo, surgery)
Results: Patients with psycho-spiritual intervention are better able to cope with the cancer process, suffer less side effects from radiation and chemotherapy, heal faster from surgery and are more likely to stay in remission.
Discussion: More awareness on the psycho-spiritual basis of cancer pathogenesis may not only help cancer patients to heal, but also may be a powerful cancer prevention approach.
Conclusion: Psycho-spiritual healing approaches are an integral part of cancer care.