Nadia Saffoon

What is?..........
• Unani' means medicines which are a symbol of life.
The name is derived from the word 'Ionian' which
originated in Greece.
• Unani Medicine as a healing system was founded by
Hakim Ibn Sina.
History
• Unani medicine is one of the oldest medicine in the world. It is still
practiced in all parts of the world but mostly is it practiced in India.
• Unani medicine is an ancient form of medicine first developed by the
Greeks. It then spread throughout the Roman empire by notable
scientists such as Galen (201 AD). With the fall of the Roman empire
came the decline in unani medicine.
• It re-emerged later in Iran, where Muslim physicians translated the
unani texts into Arabic. While in the middle east, Muslim physicians
begin to refine and further develop unani medicine.
• The Unani medicine is divided into two parts
 Theory
 Practice
Theory is divided into three parts:
 The theory of Naturals
 The theory of Causes
 The theory of Signs
NATURALS

• There are seven things which are natural, they are

 Elements
 Temperaments
 Humors
 Organs
 Forces
 Actions
 Spirits
 HUMORS

• There are four kinds of humors:

 Blood
 Phlegm
 Yellow bile
 Black bile
The force of blood is hot and wet. The force of phlegm is
cold and wet. The force of yellow bile is hot and dry. The
force of black bile is cold and dry.
Basic elements on which unani system of
medicine depends:
• There are four basic elements on which unani system of medicine
depends:

 Fire
Wood
 Air
 Water
 Earth
The force of fire is hot and dry. The force of air is
hot and wet. The force of water is cold and wet.
The force of earth is cold and dry.
Diagnosis
• The diagnosis of diseases in Unani system of medicine is
through examination of pulse, urine and stool.
 Maintenance of good health
• Unani-philosophy dictates that good health can be maintained if the relative
proportions of 4 humors are kept stable. Keeping this in mind, hakims
advocate 6 methods to keep these humors in balance:
 Inhalation of pure air.
 Moderate intake of foods and drinks
 Proper excretion is necessary.
 Adequate sleep is needed
 Moderate exercise
 Mental peace
Medical innovations introduced by Unani
system
• Avicenna was the first to describe meningitis, intubation (surgical
procedure to facilitate breathing), contamination of the body by
"foreign bodies" prior to infection, tuberculosis as being a
communicable disease,surgical treatment of cancer.
• Al Razi was the first to describe smallpox and measles.
• The Arab surgeon, Al Zahrawi was the first to describe hemophilia and
also the first surgeon in history to use cotton
Traditional Chinese medicine
 Traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (also known as TCM) is considered a

Complementary or Alternative Medical system in most of the world.

TCM practices include theories, diagnosis and treatments such as

herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage; often Qigong is also
strongly affiliated with TCM.

TCM is a form of so-called Oriental medicine, which includes other

traditional East Asian medical systems such as traditional Japanese
and Korean medicine.
 Treatment

• The below methods are considered as part of the Chinese

medicine treatment:
• Chinese herbal medicine
• Acupuncture
• Chinese food therapy
• Tui na - massage therapy
• Qigong (or chi kung, practice involving movement and regulated
breathing)
• Physical exercise such as T'ai Chi Ch'uan and other Chinese martial arts
• Mental health therapy
Acupuncture

• The effectiveness of acupuncture

remains controversial in the scientific
community, according to a review by
Edzard Ernst and colleagues in 2007,
which found that the body of evidence
was growing, research is active, and that
the "emerging clinical evidence seems to
imply that acupuncture is effective for
some but not all conditions".
Thanks