The term Kriyakala refers to the recognition of the stage of a disease's progress, which helps to determine appropriate measure to correct the imbalance in Doshas (biological factors). It is a compound expression, comprised of Kriya and Kala, where Kriya means the choice to treatment (medicine, food and daily-routine) used to improve the disturbance in Doshas, and Kala refers to the stage of progress of a disease. Sushruta, an ancient Indian surgeon, has described the concept of Kriyakala in Varnaprashnadhyaya, an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, which seeks to explain the incidence of Varnas in terms of Doshic disturbances. Varna, in modern parlance, may be described as an inflammatory process that may lead ulceration and chronic inflammation, promoting all stages of carcinogenesis. Abnormal interactions between Prakriti (genotype) and environmental factors vitiate the Doshas and impair immunity, which can lead to aberrant cell growth and cancer. Moreover, the interaction between vitiated Doshas and weak Dhatus (body tissues) manifests as cancers of a specific organ. Shatkriyakala (six stages of progress of a disease), on the other hand, provides a framework to assess the cancer and its pathogenesis in different stages. According to Ayurvedic concepts, all cancer therapies treat the affected tissues indirectly by eliminating vitiated Doshas, rejuvenating Dhatus and restoring immunity in cancer patients. The present review describes the six stages of Shatkriyakala in detail, with an emphasis on research areas to validate the concept of Shatkriyakala. This traditional knowledge can be utilized with modern technologies to detect predisposition for cancer or diagnose cancer in its early stages.
Early Detection of Cancer ; Humans ; Medicine, Ayurvedic ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplasms ; etiology ; therapy

The present market for herbal drugs is estimated about ₹40 billion, which is expected to increase by 16% in next 3-4 years. The current production of many Ayurvedic herbs is less than their market demand, which incentivizes adulteration in the Ayurvedic drug supply chain. The present work aims to highlight the most used Ayurvedic plants that have been listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "red list" of endangered or vulnerable plants. The future of Ayurvedic medicines from these listed plants is uncertain, as the collection of herbs from their natural habitat is prohibited and their cultivation does not meet market demands. Many of these plants, such as Taxus baccata and T. wallichiana, are endangered and are only grown in their natural habitats; their cultivation in other areas is impractical. This is the present state, and will worsen as demand continues to grow, with increasing populations and increasing adoption of this system of medicine. It is possible that in coming years most of the Ayurvedic drugs will be adulterated, and will cause only side effects rather than the therapeutic effects. The Ayurvedic fundamentals are under-explored areas where the Ayurvedic practitioners and research scientists can work together. The scientific work on the basic principles will unravel many unknown or little-known facts of this ancient science. Hence, the present review emphasizes the conservation of Ayurvedic herbs, minimization of the use of medicinal plants and the promotion of the research based on Ayurvedic fundamentals.