Oncologists from the renowned cancer institute Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai have warned cancer patients against delaying or stopping medical treatment based on unverified remedies, after former India cricketer and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu’s recent unscientific claims about his wife’s recovery from stage 4 cancer. The doctors stressed that there is no evidence to show that common Indian ‘home remedies’ such as turmeric and neem can heal treat cancer.
In a press conference on November 21, the former Rajya Sabha MP announced that his wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, was “clinically cancer-free”. He credited her recovery to several unverified remedies with no scientific evidence. Describing her ‘treatment’ for breast cancer, Navjot Sidhu described several dietary and lifestyle changes, including ‘home remedies’ such as turmeric, neem water, apple cider vinegar, and lemon water, coupled with strictly avoiding sugar and carbohydrates. He added that she would also practise intermittent fasting, eating her first meal of the day at 10 am and the last one at 6.30 pm.
In a statement on social media, Tata Memorial Hospital’s Director, Dr CS Pramesh, dismissed these claims as “unscientific and baseless.” The statement said that Navjot Kaur underwent evidence-based medical treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy, which were responsible for her recovery.
"Please don't believe and get fooled by these statements regardless of who it comes from. These are unscientific and baseless recommendations. She got surgery and chemotherapy that were evidence based which is what made her cancer-free. Not the haldi, neem etc.," Dr Pramesh said.
He also shared a statement signed by 262 past and present oncologists who have worked at the Tata Memorial Hospital which said, “Parts of the video imply that starving the cancer by not eating dairy products and sugar, consuming haldi (turmeric) and neem helped cure her ‘incurable’ cancer. These statements have no high quality evidence to support them. While research is going on for some of these products, currently there is no clinical data to recommend their use as anti-cancer agents.”
The statement from the oncologists further warned, “We urge the public to not delay their treatment by following unproven remedies, but rather to consult a doctor, preferably a cancer specialist, if they have any symptoms of cancer. Cancer is curable if detected early and proven treatments for cancer include surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.”