We come across several different traditional medicines in our daily lives.
Every medicine has its unique nature of healing and purpose of use.
Have you ever heard the word Unani medicine?
Well, if it’s a no. Scroll on further to know its importance in our healthy life.
So what is Unani medicine?
Unani medicine, also called Unani tib, Arabian medicine, or Islamic medicine, is a traditional system of healing and health maintenance observed in South Asia. The origins of Unani medicine are found in the doctrines of the ancient Greek physicians Hippocrates.
How does Unani’s treatment work?
Pulse examination plays an important role in diagnosis, and several features like size, strength, speed, consistency, fullness, rate, temperature, regularity, and rhythm are noted. Unani treatment can be divided into four types of therapies:
Regimental therapy:
Regimental therapies are mostly nonmedicinal techniques or procedures by which Unani physicians modulate the patient’s habitat, lifestyle, and dietary habits. They practice some other therapeutic regimens for the treatment of various diseases.
Pharmacotherapy:
It is the use of medicines by unani hakims. This treatment method is considered by hakims to be natural, eco-friendly and less intrusive, and more effective than many other methods.
Surgery:
In the Unani System of Medicine since very ancient times, Surgery has always been a part of treatment. It is the treatment of injuries or disorders of the body by incision or manipulation, especially with the help of some instruments.
Dietotherapy:
Dietotherapy seeks to restore the imbalance in the body due to errant lifestyles. The Unani system of Medicine lays rules for a balanced lifestyle, which revolves around six essential factors. Noncompliance with these principles leads to an errant lifestyle and ultimately leads to disease.
Principles of Unani medicine
The history of Unani medicine can be characterized by the work of its practitioners, or hakims, who relied on natural healing based on principles of harmony and balance, uniting the physical, mental, and spiritual realms.
Hippocrates acts as the base for the Unani system of medicine. It presumes the presence of four senses of humor in the human body that are phlegm, blood, black bile, and yellow bile.
Let us look at the 7 principles of Unani medicine.
1. Arkan or elements: Elements (Arkan) or (Anasir) are simple indivisible matters which provide the basic components for the human body and others.2. Mizaj or temperament: Temperament classifies human beings, diet, drugs, etc. into four qualitative types: Hot & Dry, Hot & Wet, Cold & Wet, and Cold & Dry.
3. Akhlat or bodily humor: Akhlat refers to the body fluids under a wider perspective in Unani Medicine, which also encompasses fluids designated as hormones by Modern Medicine<
4. Aaza or organs and systems: These are the various organs of the human body. The health or disease of each individual organ affects the state of health of the whole body.
5. Arwah or vital spirit: Ruh (Spirit) is a gaseous substance, obtained from the inspired air, it helps in all the metabolic activities of the body.
6. Quwa or faculties or powers: Metabolism is concerned with the processes of nutrition and growth of the human body.
It consists of 3 kinds of powers
- Quwa Tabiyah
- Quwa Nafsiyah
- Quwa Haywaniyah
Summary
Apart from other traditional medicines, Unani medicine is known for its promising results in the treatment of autoimmune disorders.It is gaining worldwide popularity because of the consistent results seen in treating a wide range of diseases with minimal side effects.
