Life-style differences linked to cancer risk

HYDERABAD: The Department of Physiology, University of Sindh (SU) organized a lecture titled as 'Physiology on Health Care' in a bid to increase awareness amongst the students and the faculty members.

This lecture program was held under the auspicious of Pakistan Physiology Society (PPS) and South Asian Association of Physiologies (SAAP) on the campus. Chairman department of physiology Prof. Dr. Ali Muhammad Soomro inaugurated the lecture series by welcoming the participants.

Afterwards, Dr. Naeem Ahmed Laghari, Director, NIMRA delivered his lecture in which he highlighted the burning issues of 'psycho physiological aspects of cancer'.

He insisted that the psychotherapy was need of the time to avert cancer disease adding that the counseling might be provided to Cancer patients.

"Owing to lack of counseling, care & support from the close relatives and family friends, the cancer patients are perceptually unwilling to get long term treatment i.e. Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy". Dr. Laghari lamented.

He said: Socio-cultural factors which may play a contributing role in the aetiology of cancer have been extensively investigated and it is well established that the incidence rates of different forms and sites of the disease are not equally distributed throughout the population.

"Social class, occupational, environmental and 'life-style' differences, amongst others, have been found to be associated with an excess risk of cancer, although the argument concerning the relative importance of these various factors remains a controversial one. It seems increasingly clear however, that there are large behaviourial components which govern exposure to potential carcinogens and there is growing interest in the extent to which social and psychological demands may be associated with these agents or may operate as contributory factors in their own right". He said.

Dr. Laghari further said: first, the loss of, or lack of closeness or attachment to an important relation (often a parent) early in life, and second, the inability to express hostile feelings or more generally the abnormal release of emotion. Several psychos physiological mechanisms are reviewed which have attempted to account for the relationship between psychological disturbances and the onset of cancer, particularly the growing evidence which implicated a role for the immune system as a link between the central nervous system and disease processes.

Among others, Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Professor Dr. Abdul Rasool Abbasi and Dean Faculty of Social sciences Professor Dr. Abida Taherani.

Dr. Taherani on the occasion appreciated the efforts taken by physiology department to conduct such a wonderful lecture. She maintained that such lectures ought to be organized from time to time on the campus by almost all the departments of the varsity so that the awareness process may continuously benefit the scholars, students and teachers.

Dr. Abbasi in his remarks highlighted the importance of the lecture; saying that the information disseminated through the lecture will help patients to be aware of the treatment of cancer whereas the people will not look down upon them.