The 14th Biennial International Conference of Pakistan Physiological Society titled 'Physiology in Health Care' organized by Department of Physiology, University of Sindh (SU) concluded here on Monday with the recommendations to highlight the burning issues of 'psycho physiological aspects of cancer' through various means including that of media.
The scholars said that the cancer was a chronic disease which needed to be diagnosed in time and a campaign ought to be launched on the campus in a bid to increase awareness amongst the students and the faculty members. They linked the life-style differences to cancer risk.
This they said at the concluding ceremony of the three-day international conference which was organized under the auspicious of SU Department of Physiology in collaboration with Pakistan Physiology Society (PPS) on the campus. Chairman department of physiology Professor Dr Ali Muhammad Soomro presented the recommendations at the concluding ceremony.
According to recommendations, the consuming junk and low quality food, self-medication and excessive use of medicine, low water intake, obesity, diabetes, smoking, use of gutka and hypertension should be avoided to protect the people from cancer and kidney diseases.
"For this purpose, everyone should perform his role to launch a campaign to create awareness among the masses," the recommendations said.
Earlier, Dr Muhammad Siddique Kalhoro, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of SU Laar campus Badin who presided over the concluding session of the conference on behalf of Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Abida Taherani 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 counselling might be provided to Cancer patients.
"Owing to lack of counselling, care & support from the close relatives and family friends, the cancer patients are perceptually unwilling to get long term treatment ie Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy", Dr Kalhoro 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 behaviour 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", Dr Kalhoro said.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor on the occasion appreciated the efforts taken by physiology department to conduct such a wonderful conference. He maintained that such conferences 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 Abdul Rasool Abbasi, Dean Faculty of Natural Sciences 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.