Unani or Yunani medicine ( Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

. The Indian Medical Association describes Unani practitioners who claim to practice medicine as quacks. The term '' Yūnānī'' means "Greek", as the Perso-Arabic system of medicine was based on the teachings of the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen. The Hellenistic origin of Unani medicine is still visible in its being based on the classical four humours: phlegm (), blood (''dam''), yellow bile (''ṣafrā'') and black bile (''saudā), but it has also been influenced by Indian and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

traditional systems.

History

Arab and Persian elaborations upon the Greek system of medicine by figures like

Ibn Sina Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...

and

al-Razi Razi ( fa, رازی) or al-Razi ( ar, الرازی) is a name that was historically used to indicate a person coming from Ray, Iran. People It most commonly refers to: * Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), influential physician, alchemist ...

influenced the early development of Unani. 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 The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

and it took its own course of development during the Mughal Empire, influenced by Indian medical teachings of

Sushruta Sushruta, or ''Suśruta'' (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, IAST: , ) was an ancient Indian physician. The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (''Sushruta's Compendium''), a treatise ascribed to him, is one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on ...

and Charaka. Alauddin Khalji (d. 1316) had several eminent physicians (Hakims) at his royal courts. This royal patronage led to the development of Unani in India, and also the creation of Unani literature.

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. The

Central Council of Indian Medicine Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) was a statutory body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India between 1971 and 2021. The CCIM was set up in 1971 under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, (Act 48) which was passed in 1970 ...

(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. Another subdivision of AYUSH, the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), aids and co-ordinates scientific research in the Unani system of medicine through a network of 22 nationwide research institutes and units. To fight

biopiracy Biopiracy (also known as scientific colonialism) is defined as the unauthorized appropriation of knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities by individuals or institutions seeking exclusive monopoly control through patent ...

and unethical patents, the Government of India set up the

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is an Indian digital knowledge repository of the traditional knowledge, especially about medicinal plants and formulations used in Indian systems of medicine. History Set up in 2001, as a collab ...

in 2001 as repository of formulations used in Indian traditional medicine, including 98,700 Unani formulations. In 1990, the total number of ''hakims'' or ''tabibs'' (practitioners of Unani medicine) in Pakistan was 51,883. 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. Various private foundations devote themselves to the research and production of Unani medicines, including the

Hamdard Foundation Hamdard Pakistan, () is a Pakistani unani medicine company which is based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was established by Hakim Said as Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) in 1948. History Hakim Abdul Majeed (1883 – 1922) founded an organization ca ...

, which also runs an Unani research institution. The Qarshi Foundation runs a similar institution,

Qarshi University Qarshi University (QU) (Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, and the Pakistan Pharmacy Council.

Criticism and safety issues

Some medicines traditionally used by Unani practitioners are known to be poisonous. The Indian Journal of Pharmacology notes: * According to WHO, "Pharmacovigilance activities are done to monitor detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of any

obnoxious Annoyance is an unpleasant mental state that is characterized by irritation and distraction from one's conscious thinking. It can lead to emotions such as frustration and anger. The property of being easily annoyed is called irritability. P ...

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.

References

External links

Directory of History of Medicine Collection
{{Traditional Medicine History of medieval medicine Healthcare in Pakistan Islam in India Pseudoscience

History

Education and recognition

Criticism and safety issues

See also

References

External links