How Does Unani Medicine Address the Root Causes of Liver Disease?

Unani medicine is an ancient healing and health maintenance system rooted in specific concepts. According to these beliefs, human physiology remains balanced when all seven elements remain harmoniously in balance.

Liver transplantation remains the only curative solution for patients with decompensated cirrhosis, so we conducted a case series to assess Unani therapy on hepatic complications and collect information to support future clinical trials.

Prevention

Unani medicine takes an integrative approach that is effective in combatting disease by strengthening the body's natural healing power. Unani Tibb focuses on evaluating temperament and pulse examination, selecting drugs based on potency into four degrees (Darjat-e Advia) for pharmacotherapy purposes, prescribing corrective medicines to minimize toxicities based on temperament of drugs and its impact on side-effects; prescribing corrective medicines with the objective of minimizing side-effects as a basis; using antidotes when needed for toxic effects as well as using hepatoprotective herbs like Rauwolfia serpentina or Chicory Cichorium intybus).

Unani medicine also uses dietotherapy - or ilaj-bi-ghiza in Arabic - which emphasizes eating foods low in roughage but high in nutrients - as part of its arsenal. If someone experiences fever, for instance, they could receive treatment such as dalia and kheer from their local hakim; surgery (ilaj-bil-yad) would only be considered as a last resort and is beyond his or her scope of expertise Arq Kasni.

Diagnosis

Unani medicine involves combining several therapies together in order to treat illnesses. One such therapy, ilaj-bi-ghiza or dietotherapy, emphasizes eating a nutritious diet. Examples may include rice flour or milk broth-based dishes such as dalia.

Ilaj-bi-misla, or organotherapy, involves using extracts from the affected organ to heal it. This approach has proven particularly helpful when treating fatty liver. Your hakim may also use other remedies like rifampicin or azathioprine in combination to protect you against viral hepatitis.

Unani medicines can be difficult to navigate due to their vast materia medica; ancient texts often lack information regarding ingredient sources and provenance; as a result, hakim must rely on both traditional knowledge and modern pharmacognostic assessments as ways of validating authenticity as well as identify possible side-effects.

Treatment

Unani medicine recognizes the liver as an "Ada Ra'isa", or vital organ, and recognizes four faculties to support nutrition, growth and sustenance for humans: Quwwat Hadima (digestive power), Quwwat Masika (retentive power), Quwwat Jadhiba (absorptive power) and Quwwat Qafsiya (expulsive power). A liver is an impressively versatile organ: turning nutrients into chemicals for other parts of the body to use while filtering blood from toxins while storing energy - but unfortunately also falls prey to chronic viral infections such as Hepatitis B and C which cannot reverse damage caused to hepatocytes due to antiviral therapies available against chronic viral infections like Hepatitis B or C once damage occurs - leaving these antivirals helpless in stopping its damage or recovery once damage has taken place Pakistan Herbal Medicine.

Unani treatment offers an innovative, holistic approach to liver disease treatment that draws upon Hippocratic's belief that an equilibrium between Arkan (elements) and Akhlat (humors) keeps us healthy. This principle is enshrined in Unani Tabiyat: an inherent power within each person that allows him/her to maintain this equilibrium through diet and herbs.

Unani therapy (using pulse examination and the concept of temperament (Mizaj) in diagnosing and selecting drugs), was successfully employed for treating five decompensated cirrhosis cases using unani medicines. The combination therapy successfully stopped further progression of fibrosis while returning liver function tests toward normal as well as relieving symptoms such as headache. Possible contributors could have included constituents like earth smoke (Fumaria officinalis), chirata (Swertia chiraita) or black nightshade (Solanum nigrum).