Unani medicine

Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: طب یونانی tibb yūnānī[1]) is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific.[2][3] The Indian Medical Association describes Unani practitioners who claim to practice medicine as quacks.[4]

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Birbahuti (Trombidium red velvet mite) is used as Unani Medicine

The term Yūnānī means "Greek",[5][6] as the Perso-Arabic system of medicine was based on the teachings of the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen.[7]

The Hellenistic origin of Unani medicine is still visible in its being based on the classical four humours: phlegm (balgham), blood (dam), yellow bile (ṣafrā) and black bile (saudā'), but it has also been influenced by Indian and Chinese traditional systems.[8]

History

Arab and Persian elaborations upon the Greek system of medicine by figures like Ibn Sina and al-Razi influenced the early development of Unani.[9][10]

Unani medicine interacted with Indian Buddhist medicine at the time of Alaxander's invasion of India. There was a great exchange of knowledge at that time which is visible from the similarity of the basic conceptual frames of the two systems. The medical tradition of medieval Islam was introduced to India by the 12th century with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and it took its own course of development during the Mughal Empire,[11][12] influenced by Indian medical teachings of Sushruta and Charaka.[13][14] Alauddin Khalji (d. 1316) had several eminent physicians (Hakims) at his royal courts.[15] This royal patronage led to the development of Unani in India, and also the creation of Unani literature.[16][17]

Education and recognition

There are several Indian universities devoted to Unani medicine, in addition to universities that teach traditional Indian medical practices in general. Undergraduate degrees awarded for completing an Unani program include the Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery, Bachelor of Unani Tib and Surgery, and Bachelor of Unani Medicine with Modern Medicine and Surgery degrees. A small number of universities offer post-graduate degrees in Unani medicine.[18]

The Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), a statutory body established in 1971 under the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), monitors higher education in areas of Indian medicine including Ayurveda, Unani, and other traditional medical systems.[19] Another subdivision of AYUSH, the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM),[20] aids and co-ordinates scientific research in the Unani system of medicine through a network of 22 nationwide research institutes and units.[21]

To fight biopiracy and unethical patents, the Government of India set up the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in 2001 as repository of formulations used in Indian traditional medicine, including 98,700 Unani formulations.[22][23]

In 1990, the total number of hakims or tabibs (practitioners of Unani medicine) in Pakistan was 51,883.[24] The government of Pakistan's National Council for Tibb (NCT) is responsible for developing the curriculum of Unani courses and registering practitioners of the medicine.[25] Various private foundations devote themselves to the research and production of Unani medicines, including the Hamdard Foundation, which also runs an Unani research institution.[26] The Qarshi Foundation runs a similar institution, Qarshi University.[27] The programs are accredited by Higher Education Commission,[28] Pakistan Medical and Dental Council,[29] and the Pakistan Pharmacy Council.[30]

Criticism and safety issues

Some medicines traditionally used by Unani practitioners are known to be poisonous.[31]

The Indian Journal of Pharmacology notes:

  • According to WHO, "Pharmacovigilance activities are done to monitor detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of any obnoxious adverse reactions to drugs at therapeutic concentration that is used or is intended to be used to modify or explore physiological system or pathological states for the benefit of recipient."
  • These drugs may be any substance or product including herbs, minerals, etc. for animals and human beings and can even be that prescribed by practitioners of Unani or Ayurvedic system of medicine. In recent days, awareness has been created related to safety and adverse drug reaction monitoring of herbal drugs including Unani drugs.[32]

See also

References
  1. the transcription as Unani is found in 19th-century English language sources: "the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine" "Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers: Hoshangabad", Gazetteer of India 17 (1827), p. 587.
  2. Quack, Johannes (2012). Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 3, 213. ISBN 978-0199812608.
  3. Kaufman, Allison B.; Kaufman, James C., eds. (2018). Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science. MIT Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-262-03742-6.
  4. Aggarwal, K. K.; Sharma, V. N. "IMA Anti Quackery Wing". Indian Medical Association. Retrieved February 11, 2022. The purpose of this compendium of court orders and various rules and regulations is to acquaint doctors regarding specific provisions and orders barring quackery by unqualified people, practitioners of Indian & Integrated Medicine to practice Modern Medicine.
  5. William Dalrymple (1994). City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. Flamingo. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-00-637595-1.
  6. "Unani Tibb". Science Museum, London. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  7. "Unani Medicine in India: Its Origin and Fundamental Concepts" by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. IV Part 2 (Medicine and Life Sciences in India), Ed. B. V. Subbarayappa, Centre for Studies in Civilizations, Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 298-325
  8. Heyadri, Mojtaba; Hashempur, Mohammad Hashem; Ayati, Mohammad Hosein; Quintern, Detlev; Nimrouzi, Majid; Mosavat, Seyed Hamdollah (2015). "The use of Chinese herbal drugs in Islamic medicine". Journal of Integrative Medicine. 13 (6): 363–7. doi:10.1016/S2095-4964(15)60205-9. PMID 26559361.
  9. "Unani Medicine in India during 1901–1947" by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Studies in History of Medicine and Science, IHMMR, New Delhi, Vol. XIII, No. 1, 1994, p. 97-112.
  10. Alam, Zulfeequar (2008). Herbal Medicines. APH. pp. 13–15. ISBN 9788131303580.
  11. Chishti, p. 2.
  12. Kapoor, p. 7264
  13. Exchanges between India and Central Asia in the field of Medicine by Hakeem Abdul Hameed
  14. "Interaction with China and Central Asia in the Field of Unani Medicine" by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. III Part 2 (India’s Interaction with China, Central and West Asia), Ed. A. Rahman, Centre for Studies in Civilizations, Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, New Delhi, 2002, pp. 297-314
  15. "Indian Hakims: Their Role in the medical care of India" by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. IV Part 2 (Medicine and Life Sciences in India), Ed. B. V. Subbarayappa, Centre for Studies in Civilizations, Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 371-426
  16. "Unani". Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, Govt. of India. Archived from the original on 2007-12-23.
  17. Bala, p. 45
  18. Kumar, Ashish (2006). Handbook of Universities, Volume 1. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. xiii,13.
  19. CCIM Archived 2011-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  20. "Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM)". Traditional Knowledge Digital Library.
  21. "Research and Development: Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM)". Centre for Research in Indian Systems of Medicine, (CRISM).
  22. Traditional Knowledge Digital Library website.
  23. "Know Instances of Patenting on the UES of Medicinal Plants in India". PIB, Ministry of Environment and Forests. May 6, 2010.
  24. Gadit, Amin; Khalid, Najeeb (2002). State of Mental Health in Pakistan: Service, Education & Research. Hamdard Foundation. p. 27.
  25. Bodeker, Gerard (2005). WHO Global Atlas of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine. WHO. p. 167.
  26. "Hamdard Research Institute of Unani Medicine, Hamdard University". Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  27. "Department of Eastern Medicine and Surgery, Qarshi University". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  28. "H.E.C. Accreditation List". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29.
  29. "PM&DC Accreditation List". Archived from the original on 2012-01-16. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  30. "PCP Accreditation List". Pharmacy Council of Pakistan. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
  31. Arnold, David (2012). David Hardiman, Projit Bihari Mukharji (ed.). Medical Marginality in South Asia: Situating Subaltern Therapeutics. Routledge. p. 171. ISBN 9780415502412.
  32. Rahman, SZ; Latif, A; Khan, RA (Dec 2008). "Importance of pharmacovigilance in Unani system of medicine". Indian J. Pharmacol. 40 (7): 17–20. PMC 3038517. PMID 21369407.
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