Post Series: Global Traditional Medicine Systems
In order to spread awareness about the rich living herbal traditions from around the world, this post series is intended to introduce some of the characteristics of the herbal or traditional medicine systems to which plants belong.
Unani medicine, also known as Unani Tibb, is a traditional medicine system originated from Greece and introduced in India by Arab and Persian settlers. The term “Unani” means “Greek” in Arabic.
Based on the teachings of the Greek physician Hippocrates and Roman physician Galen, and developed further into an elaborate medical system by Arabian and Persian physicians, Unani’s origins are approximately 2500 years old.
Considered to be the original science of medicine, Unani is mainly consisting of herbal drugs and a philosophy that considers diseases and ailments to be derangements of the normal temperament and homeostasis of the four humours of the body. The four humours are blood (dam), phlegm (balgham), yellow bile (safra), and black bile (sauda). To bring the body back into balance, regimental therapy (Ilaj bi’l-Tadabeer) or pharmacotherapy (Ilaj bi’l-yad) is utilized, and only as a last resort is surgery (Ilaj bi’l-yad) advised.
The seven basic physiological principles of the Unani doctrine include the (1) arkan (elements), (2) mizaj (temperament), (3) akhlat (humours), (4) a’za (organs), (5) arwah (vital spirit), (6) quwa (faculties or powers), and (7) af’al (functions). People possess a self-regulating power within themselves (tabiyat or mudabbira-e-badan), basically the immunity, to keep these principles in balance. The six essential elements that health is based on are air, drinks and food, sleep and wakefulness, excretion and retention, physical activity and repose, and mental activity and repose.
Unani practitioners, known as hakims, aim to bring harmony and balance to the body based on these principles, uniting the physical, mental and spiritual realms.
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