alternative medicine

1. UNANI MEDICINE

2. Introduction
 Unani medicine as the name suggests, originated in
greece or unan.
 It was the greek philosopher-physician Hippocrates
(460-377BC) who freed medicine from the realm of
superstition and magic and gave the status of
science.
 The theorectical frame work of unani medicine is
based on the teachings of Hippocrates.
 He believed that whenever and where ever possible
medicine should be gentle and safe. This is the main
objective of unani medicine.

3. • After Hippocrates, a number of Greek scholars
enriched the system and it imbibed the best from
contemporary system of medicine in Egypt, Syria,
Iraq, Persia, India, china and other Middle east
and far East countries.
• That is why the system is known in different parts
of the world by different names, like Greco-Arab
medicine, Ionian medicine, Arab or Islamic
medicine, Oriental medicine and so on.

4. Salient Features:
• Science of health & disease.
• Provides principles of healthy living.
• Based on Hippocratic theory of four humors and
temperaments.
• Specific methods of diagnosis
• Eco-friendly practices, therapies and remedies.
• Natural raw materials mainly from plant origin
• Individualized and holistic approach

5. • Do’s and don’ts related to food
• Equilibrium in humors - basis of treatment.
• Preventive, curative, meditation and rehabilitation.
• Comprehensive approach of treatment in
noncommunicable, metabolic, degenerative,
Psychosomatic and lifestyle disorders.

6. Principle of Unani Medicine :
• The fundamental principle of the unani system
recognises that disease is a natural process and
symptoms of a disease are body's reaction to
disease.
• The chief function of the physician is to aid the
natural forces of the body.
• The unani medicine is based on the Humoral theory-
which presupposes the presence of four humors.
• They are Dum (blood), Balgham (phlegm), Safra
(yellow bile) and Sauda ( black bile).

7. • The temperaments (mizaj) of people are expressed
by the words sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and
melancholic, according to the amount of each of
these four humors prevalent in the human body
respectively.
• The humors themselves are assigned temperaments-
blood is hot and moist, phlegm is cold and moist,
yellow bile hot and dry, and black bile cold and dry.
• There is a unique humoral constitution in every
person representing his state of health.

8. • The body has the power of self preservation to
maintain a correct balance of these humors, which is
called as Quwwate-Mudabbira (Medicatrix natura).
• Unani medicines help the body to regain this
balance.

9. • A weakening of this power causes imbalance in the
humoral composition and causes disease.
• What the Unani physician actually tries to do is to
prescribe a medicine, which helps the body to regain
this power and thereby restore the humoral balance.
• Correct diet and digestion is integral to this system.

10. • The Unani system of medicine emphasizes on
diagnosing a disease through Nabz (pulse), Baul
(urine), Baraz (stool), etc.
• Besides, it gives due importance to the surroundings
and the ecological conditions on the state of health
of humans.
• The six essential prerequisites (called Asbab-e-Sitta
Zarooriya) for the prevention of diseases in the Unani
system are air, food and drinks, bodily movement
and response, psychic movement and response,
sleep and wakefulness, and excretion and retention.

11. • The essential constituents and the working principles
of the body, according to Unani, can be classified into
seven main groups: arkan or elements, comprising
earth, water, air and fire as different states of matter
and the building blocks of everything in the universe;
mizaj (temperament); akhlat (humours); aza (organs);
arwah (life, spirits or vital breaths); quwa (energy);
and af'al (action).

12. • Each of the four elements has its own special
qualities: earth is cold and dry; water is cold and
moist; fire is hot and dry; air is hot and moist.
• The resultant quality of the uniform body is called its
mizaj.
• The temperament of a substance may be a mizaj-e-
mutadil (balanced one) or a mizaj-e-ghair-mutadil
(imbalanced one).

13. • Various types of treatment are employed in Unani
system.
• These include regimental therapy (Ilaj-bit-Tadbeer),
dietotherapy (Ilaj-bit-ghiza), pharmacotherapy (Ilaj-
bit-Dawa) and surgery (Jarahat).
• The regimental therapy comprises venesection
(Phlebotomy), cupping, diaphoresis, diuresis, Turkish
bath, massage, cauterization, purging, emesis,
exercise, leeching, etc.

14. • Dietotherapy tries to treat certain ailments by
administration of specific diets or by regulating the
quantity and quality of food.
• Pharmacotherapy deals with the use of naturally
occurring drugs, mostly herbal, though drugs of
animal and mineral origin are also used.

15. • In Unani medicine, single drugs or their combinations
in raw forms are preferred over compound
formulations.
• The naturally occurring drugs used in this system are
usually free from any side effects while drugs that
are toxic in crude form are first processed and
purified in many ways before use so as to make them
free of any kind of side effects.