Unani Medicine (commonly referred to as Greeco-Arab medicine or Unani Tibb) is a traditional system of medicine practiced in the Indian subcontinent. The present paper is an attempt to summarily introduce this complimentary therapy, its basic principles to western health care professionals. The overview of education, training, and research in this field has also been presented.Unani Medicine (commonly referred to as Greeco-Arab medicine or Unani Tibb) is a traditional system of medicine practiced in the Indian subcontinent. The present paper is an attempt to summarily introduce this complimentary therapy, its basic principles to western health care professionals. The overview of education, training, and research in this field has also been presented.

INTRODUCTION

The Unani system of medicine; sometimes referred to as Greeco-Arab medicine or Unani Tibb; is based on Greek philosophy. As per this traditional system, the human body is composed of four basic elements: earth, air, water and fire having cold, hot, wet and dry temperaments respectively. The body fluids are composed of four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. These humors have their own temperament:

Blood: hot & wet

Phlegm: cold & hot

Yellow bile: hot & dry

Black bile: cold & dry

The quality and quantity of four humors affect the state of health and disease in the body.

Origin and development of Unani system of medicine

The Unani system of medicine originated in Greece (Unan or Yunan in the Arabic language).

Aesculapius is credited as the originator of this system. Buqrat (better known as Hippocrates, 460-377 BC) is said to be descendent of Aesculapius and recognized as ‘father of Unani medicine’.

Unani medicine developed in the four time periods each in a different geographical belt:

Greek period

Arab-Persian period

Spanish period

Indian period

CONCEPT OF HEALTH

According to Unani medicine, health is considered as a state of the body with humors in equilibrium and body functions normal. Health is based on six essential elements:

Air

Drinks and food

Sleep and wakefulness

Excretion and retention

Physical activity and retention

Mental activity and rest

This theory is indirectly having partial similarity with the accepted definition of health as a state of physical, mental and social wellness.

DIAGNOSIS

Classical diagnosis in the Unani system is based on examination of pulse, stool, and urine in addition to routine physical checkup.

MODES OF TREATMENT

There are three modes of treatment in the Unani system:
Regimental therapy (Ilajbil tadbeer) – Use of exercise, climate change, massage, venesection, leeching, cupping, diet therapy etc.

Pharmacotherapy (Ilajbil dava) – use of drugs of plant, animal and mineral origin, either alone or in combination.
Surgery (Ilajbil Yad) – Surgical intervention in treatment as last resort.

UNANI MEDICINE: THE INDIAN SCENARIO

This section is intended to provide a brief overview of the education & training, professional practice, and research in Unani medicine including the recent advances.

EDUCATION

The Unani Medicine education in India is governed by Central Council of Indian Medicine (Govt. of India). Forty-three colleges impart five and a half years’ Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS) degree after 12 years of schooling. The BUMS courses are either affiliated to universities or are run by the deemed university. The students learn basic/preclinical (e.g. anatomy, physiology), preclinical (e.g. pharmacology, pathology, hygiene) and clinical subjects (e.g. Unani medicine, surgery). BUMS course essentially involves a one-year rotatory internship. BUMS can be followed by specialized courses in the form of house job training or post graduation.

3-year postgraduate courses – MD (Unani medicine) or MS (Unani surgery) are offered by a number of institutions

(Table 1) apart from National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore in one or more of the following branches:

Unani internal medicine (Moalejat)

Principles of Unani medicine (Kulliyat)

Gynaecology, Obstetrics, and Paediatrics (Amraz-e-niswan-wa-qabalat-o-atfal)

Preventive & Social Medicine (Tahaffuzi-wa-samaji Tibb)

Unani surgery (Jarahiyat)

Pharmacology (Ilmul Advia)

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Clinical practice is undertaken by Unani graduates after registration with a duly constituted government registration board/council. They work in government and private establishments as Unani medical officers, research officers, clinical registrars, teaching staff members, manufacturing chemists and as Unani drug inspectors with drug control authorities. Few of the graduates and post graduates serve in the funded-research projects as research fellows or research associates. A sizeable number opts to work as Unani general practitioners. A minority of the Unani postgraduates are able to get the coveted Lectureships in the teaching institutions. These academicians have the opportunities to become Readers (Associate Professors) and Professors in the academic hierarchy.

RESEARCH

The academic research is mostly undertaken by Post-Graduates-in-training under the supervision of Unani academicians; sometimes; in collaboration with experts from other fields such as pharmacy, modern medicine and science. Dept. of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) under the the Central Ministry of Health

Hamdard University website: http://www.jamiahamdard.edu

NISCAIR website: http://www.niscair.res.in

A complementary therapy called Hijama, or wet cupping, needs tighter regulation, say, experienced practitioners. Hijama is used to treat a wide range of conditions including migraines and hay fever and involves cutting the skin and drawing blood with suction cups

What is the meaning of Hijama?

Hijama (Arabic: حجامة‎‎ lit. “sucking”) is the Arabic term for wet cupping, where blood is drawn by vacuum from a small skin incision for therapeutic purposes.

What is cupping therapy used for?

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a therapist puts special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction. People get it for many purposes, including to help with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, and as a type of deep-tissue massage.

What is the use of Hijama?

A complementary therapy called Hijama, or wet cupping, needs tighter regulation, say, experienced practitioners. Hijama is used to treat a wide range of conditions including migraines and hay fever and involves cutting the skin and drawing blood with suction cups.

Where did cupping come from?

The Ebers Papyrus, written c. 1550 BC and one of the oldest medical textbooks in the Western world, describes the Egyptians’ use of cupping while mentioning similar practices employed by Saharan peoples. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates (c. 400 BC) used cupping for internal disease and structural problems.

How much does it cost for cupping?

Cupping therapy generally costs between $40 to $80 per session, which typically lasts about a half hour. But Caulfield says you are a lot better off not that spending that money. The best way to heal sore muscles, he said, is the stuff that’s old-school and, frankly, boring

How long does it take for cupping marks to go away?

The color and pattern of the marks depend on the level of stagnation in the area. If marks do appear, they can range from a bright red to dark purple, usually lasting 3 days to a week – sometimes longer if the person is very sick or sedentary.

What does cupping do to your body?

Cupping promotes optimal “Qi” by drawing energy and blood flow to areas of the body that are experiencing inflammation, prone to low lymphatic circulation or experiencing poor blood flow.

How does cupping help muscles?

Generally, cupping is combined with acupuncture in one treatment, but it can also be used alone. The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system (which makes it an excellent treatment for high blood pressure)

How long is a cupping session?

Cupping therapy can last anywhere between 15 to 60 minutes. An example of a one-hour session: 15 to 20 minutes of massage, 5 minutes to apply the cups, 15 to 20 minutes of the cups being stationary on the skin, 2 minutes to remove the cups and 15 to 20 minutes of massage.

What is a cupping massage?

Cup massage is a type of massage based on the local impact on the human body with rarefied air. This method of therapy through the use of decreased pressure is a type of vacuum therapy, widely used nowadays for treating a variety of human diseases.

What is cupping for the face?

Cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which cups are placed on the skin to create suction in order to increase blood flow, reduce inflammation and activate lymphatic drainage. Cupping therapy dates back to ancient Egypt, Asia, and the Middle East.

Ozone therapy is a form of alternative medicine treatment that purports to increase the amount of oxygen in the body through the introduction of ozone. Various techniques have been suggested, with purported benefits including the treatment of cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis, among others.

What is ozone good for?

Ground-level or “bad” ozone is an air pollutant that is harmful to breathe and it damages crops, trees and other vegetation. … The stratosphere or “good” ozone layer extends upward from about 6 to 30 miles and protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Why you haven’t heard of Ozone therapy

One of the most powerful healing therapies is something that is ubiquitous and all around us, ozone. How is it possible that something so powerful, available, inexpensive and effective at treating so many diseases is so unknown for it’s healing benefits? Well, it is inexpensive and cannot be patented. Therefore, it is suppressed.

So what is Ozone and what does it do?

Ozone is O3 (3 oxygen atoms combines) and forms an energetic molecule that readily donates it’s third oxygen atom to free radicals that are usually causing damage to our bodies through oxidation. If their is Ozone present in our bodies then the oxidation damage caused by these free radicals is halted because the free radicals are made stable and therefore undestructive by the extra oxygen atom given off by the Ozone.

Here are the top 10 benefits of ozone that nobody told you about:

1. Ozone strengthens your immune system

Ozone is a potent regulator of the immune system. When the immune system is overactive (as in auto-immune disease), ozone will calm it down. Conversely, when the immune system is under-active as in chronic infections, ozone will stimulate it. This unique ability of ozone stems from its activation of immune related messenger molecules, so called cytokines, like gamma interferon, interleukin-2, colony stimulating factor, and TNF-alpha, to name just a few.

2. Ozone kills bacteria and viruses on contact

Ozone interferes with the metabolism of bacterium-cells, most likely through inhibiting and blocking the operation of the enzymatic control system. A sufficient amount of ozone breaks through the cell membrane, and this leads to the destruction of the bacteria. Unlike bacteria, viruses multiply only within the host cell. They transform protein of the host cell into proteins of their own. Ozone destroys viruses by diffusing through the protein coat into the nucleic acid core, resulting in damage of the viral RNA

3. Ozone increases the oxygen level of your cells

If we stopped breathing oxygen we would all be dead in 8 minutes or less. Why? Oxygen enables our cells to make energy. Without oxygen our cells can’t make energy, and without energy our cells will die. If our cells die, we die. Ozone increases the amount of oxygen that is delivered to the cells by the RBC’s or Red Blood Cells. It also makes the Red Blood Cells more ‘squishy’ so that they can do a better job of fitting down long skinny blood vessels that supply your tissues and organs with blood and oxygen.

4. Ozone detoxifies your body

In transdermal ozone therapy the pores of the skin open due to the gentle heat and steam and ozone enters the body transdermally (via the skin). The ozone penetrates the blood, lymph and fat. By allowing the ozone in and the toxins out, via the sweating process, this method is incredibly effective at detoxifying and oxygenating the body.

5. Ozone reduces inflammation

Ozone alters immune function by causing a controlled oxidative effect, mobilising the body’s antioxidant defences, and resolving inflammation.

6. Ozone has been known to kill HIV

Medical ozone contains large excess of energy which it also uses to kill HIV, viruses bacteria and germs on contact. Active oxygen / medical ozone also kills HIV and viruses by using the by products formed when it mixes with bodily fluids. At right concentration, medical ozone kills 99.999% lipid viruses and bacteria in the test tube, water, bodily fluids and in the air.

7. Ozone can kill cancer cells

The way ozone kills unhealthy cells, and not healthy cells is through enzymes. All healthy cells have three enzymes that protect them from being oxidised. All healthy cells love oxygen and require it to operate properly. Every cell is really a oxygen burning machine. Unhealthy cells don’t have these enzymes to protect them from being oxidised. This makes all unhealthy cells, including cancers defenceless to ozone.

8. Ozone is anti-agin

For anti-agin it is critical to raise the amount of oxygen in your blood and in your cells. Ozone therapy is one of the most powerful ways to do this. If used correctly, ozone is a “wonder drug” that has the potential to revolutionise medicine and anti ageing.

9. Ozone increases energy

You breathe oxygen so that it can be used to create energy in your cells. Quite often this process does not occur very efficiently, especially when humans age beyond the age of 30. Ozone helps to ‘revitalise’ this process so that you can make more energy from that oxygen that you are breathing, just like fine tuning a car engine so that it can get more power out of gasoline.

10. Ozone reduces acidity

Breaks down the level of uric acid in the body which is the cause of gout and damages the blood vessels.

Herbal medicine is exclusively made from plants and is the oldest and still the most widely used system of medicine in the world today. Uses of herbal medicine (also known as Phytotherapy) has been found in all societies and is common to all cultures. Phytotherapy applies scientific research and the highest professional standards to the practice of herbal medicine and encourages and adapts to a recent worldwide growth in scientific information on plant drugs and their effective and safe use.

In today’s industrial age, harmful toxins and chemicals are produced as a result of our genetically modified, massed produced, economically driven society. These byproducts infiltrate the environment and consequently cause long lasting ailments and a detriment to the world’s population. While the industrial age has provided for a better overall lifestyle, we do have a choice when it comes to the treatments necessary to have a healthier life. Connecting natural resources with medicinal remedies has been a proven alternative to more current approaches. Nearly 80% of Asian and African countries are using herbal medicines for some aspect of primary health care (as estimated by WHO).

Phytotherapy medicines differ from plant-derived medicines in standard pharmacology. Where standard pharmacology isolates an active compound from a given plant, phytotherapy aims to preserve the complexity of substances from a given plant with relatively less processing while maintaining effectiveness and safety. The study of plants for medicinal purposes led to the deriving of certain compounds used in pharmaceuticals.

Documented herbal remedies from plants to treat diseases dates back over 5,000 years. Today, nearly one-third of Americans use herbs to treat many conditions, such as allergies, asthma, eczema, premenstrual syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraine, menopausal symptoms, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and cancer, and much more.

Benefits of Herbal Medicine

Clinical experience has shown that herbal medicine may be used for a number of conditions and issues and that the benefits include:

• Utilizes the body’s natural healing process for treating conditions.
• Known as a synergistic approach to health care, phytotherapy combines the old and the new, ancient and modern, and science and nature.
• Phytotherapy works at a tonifying level for increased immunity and an overall healthier state of being.

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