Methods of health promotion and disease prevention in Unani medicine

BACKGROUND: Better preventive care is a prerequisite to foster community health and in reducing the unnecessary burden on the health-care system. The Unani System of Medicine has given due emphasis on preventive care. This article aims to discuss the health promotion and disease prevention approaches in Unani Medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A manual literature survey of classical Unani texts such as Firdaus-al-hikmat, Al Qanoon-fit-tib, Kitab-al-mansoori, Kitab-al-kulliyat, and Kitab-al-taisir was conducted to collect the information available on the strategic approaches of health promotion and disease prevention in Unani Medicine. To obtain the appropriate English equivalent words for Unani terms and the scientific name of the drugs, “Standard Unani Medical Terminology” and “Classification of Unani Drugs” were consulted, respectively. RESULTS: The findings of the literature survey revealed that Unani physicians have advocated the personalized and predictive approaches for maintaining health and preventing diseases. Personalized approach mainly centers on the temperament of an individual. By determining an individual's temperament, Unani physician can tell what is adequate or not adequate for the individual. While in the predictive approach, correct knowledge of prodromal symptoms is a prerequisite to predict the future developments in the human body and recommending the appropriate preventive measures accordingly. CONCLUSION: These approaches present interesting perspectives in the field of promotive and preventive care and are of much relevance in the present scenario. Unfortunately, the lack of efficacy studies is a limiting factor in their application. Hence, effective protocol must be developed to provide evidence-based data and to give grounds for their widespread usage.