Here is a very short account of the basic principles of the Unani Medicine as transmitted to us from the origins and later through Hippocrates and those who followed up to our days:
1. All creatures are made of Matter (which is the body) and a Vital Principle of Life (which is known as the Spiritual or Divine Fluid that keeps the whole in life).
2. In our planet and its surroundings only four elements exist and all matters or substances are made of these elements namely: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. Each element has its two major properties: Earth is hot and wet, Fire is hot and dry, Air is cold and dry and Water is cold and wet.
3.In each body Four Humours correspond to the Four Elements: Blood, Yellow Bile, Black Bile and Phlegm. Consequently the body acts and reacts according to the Humours through four Major Temperaments and a fifth additional Temperament called the Equable Temperament or the Perfectly Balanced Temperament. This last one is neither too cold nor too hot and neither too wet nor too dry, well balanced and procures a perfect health. From this perfectly balanced temperament one should try to be as close as possible, because the more we drift away from it the higher the risk of getting diseases.
Unfortunately due to the hardships of life this Equable Temperament is not easy to retain. In our living environment it can easily be perturbed by physical factors (food, drinks, the weather etc…) or psychological events whatever their origin or their nature. Whenever this disruption occurs the body reverts to one or the other of the Temperaments corresponding to the Humours, thus producing a corresponding effect on the health. Therefore in order to restore the balance, the subject should waive out the reasons of the disturbance otherwise the risk of increasing the unbalance becomes stronger which may have with time some damaging effects on the health. At such a stage the help of medicines become necessary and sometimes also the help of a good physician may be required.
The disease from a Hippocratic angle: The theory of Humours is based on clinical observation: Humours play a dominant role in the organism since they share an essential component that is found everywhere: water.
What Hippocrates had theorised is now somewhat confirmed by our current knowledge. Blood is composed by 90% of water and the brain contains 80% of it. We have 200 hectares of irrigated tissue by 100,000km of capillary vessels; 5.5 litres of blood and 130 to 200m2 of lung surface. The liver treats 2400 L of blood per day, while the body of an adult contains between 60% and 70% of water. For Hippocrates, the origin of the disease is due to the imbalance between the four Humours of the body (yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm). The sick body then tries to find various ways of eliminating the sickness (fever, sweating, bleeding, sputum, diarrhoea, etc.). These eliminations processes are involved in the improvement of health, in the body’s recovery, by the elimination of unnecessary and stagnant materials that block the free circulation of the humours.
Causes of the Humours imbalance
The perfect balance of the Humours is hard to maintain because it is constantly subject to several influences:
• Age: The body temperature declines with age.
• The climate and the seasons: just as they have an influence on nature and vegetation, they influence the Humours in the body.
• Food loaded with chemicals: preservatives, dyes, stabilizers, sweeteners, bleaching agents, emulsifiers ...
• Air pollution due to industrial activity, cars, smoking ...
• Various chemical substances: high doses of medicines (tranquilizers, sedatives, analgesics, antibiotics), Cosmetic products, Cleaning products…
A serious and common problem: For several decades, the significant use of chemicals and their accumulation in the body alter the balance of the Humours. Hence, most of the diseases that we find in the populations of industrialized countries (cancer, depression, allergies, rheumatism, etc.) are due to the predominance of different cold states, causing a significant anaesthesia of the organs, the accumulation of black bile or phlegm and a poor elimination of waste.
THE TEMPERAMENTS, GENERAL DIAGNOSTICS and EASILY RECOGNISED SYMPTOMS: While a precise diagnosis of illness and health affections is something that remains in the domain of good and experienced physicians, there is always some way for the layman provided he is aware of his own body, to determine, if he is having a change in his temperament and which direction this change is taking. For this purpose the following indications may be used as general guidelines.
Blood Temperament: It corresponds to excessive heat and humidity in the body and presents amongst many others, the following signs:
• Occurrence of headache
• Trembling lips
• Feeling of weakness occasionally and moreover weakening of the limbs
• Swollen tongue
• Nose itching
• Cracked nails
• Loose teeth
• Coughing
• Haemorrhoids
• Swollen liver
Yellow Bile Temperament: It corresponds to excessive heat and dryness in the body and presents amongst many others, the following signs:
• Yellow nails
• Headache
• Hard eyelids
• Yellow and grey teeth
• Jaundice
• Occurrence of vomiting
• Anal ulcer
• Occasional burning urination and Yellow colouring of Urine
• Excessive appetite
• Swelling of liver
• Insomnia
Phlegm Temperament: This temperament corresponds to excessive coldness and humidity in the body with the following signs:
• Feeling of lethargy and laziness
• Melancholic mood
• Insomnia
• Occurrence of convulsions and trembling
• The presence of sounds and ringing in the ears
• Bad odour from the nose
• Development of a tendency to forget, which may lead progressively to loss of memory
• Occasional headache crisis
• Colic crisis
• Malfunctioning of some organs and specially the liver and the spleen which may swell.
• The retention of urine is one important sign
• The aching in the back and the joints
• Arthritis and rheumatisms
• Excessive perspiration and loss of hair
• Malfunctioning of the bladder
Black Bile Temperament: This temperament corresponds to excessive coldness and dryness in the body with the following signs:
• Lack of agility and stiffness in the body and the joints
• Excess of Black Bile may cause hallucinations
• Constant flatulence
• Development of cancer and specially skin cancer
• Bad blood circulation and development of varicose veins
• Poly arthritis
• Enlargement of the stomach
• Excessive appetite, as a consequence of the swollen stomach
• Colic and in some cases vomiting
• Jaundice
• Thickening and possible dryness of nails
Beside these five temperaments, there are four other temperaments which can be described as follows:
• The hot temperament with a balance of dryness and humidity. It has common symptoms with both yellow bile and blood temperaments but in a softer way
• The cold temperament with a balance of dryness and humidity. It has common signs with both black bile and phlegm temperaments but in a softer magnitude
• The dry temperament with a balance of heat and coldness. It has common signs with both yellow bile and black bile temperaments but in a softer magnitude
• The humid temperament with a balance of heat and coldness. It has common symptoms with both blood and phlegm temperaments but in a softer magnitude
For each temperament many other signs can be detected and some of them are common to the four principal temperaments. This is why the diagnosis must be made carefully and based on several factors and signs. Once the nature of the temperament is determined, the patient must start changing his habits of eating and drinking and revert to food and drinks that can improve his situation and bring back the body to an equable temperament. However, if the situation is difficult and the body or one of the principal organs is slowing down and incapable of performing its duties, one must help the right diet with other measures and eventually with medicines.
EXTERNAL SIGNS:
A good physician or an experienced observer can recognise a Temperament and its type through some of its external signs. The famous physician Gallien (Gallinus) said, bodies are constituted according to the temperaments of the Heart and the Liver.
For instance, a clear and healthy skin with a rose or light red colouring, not too cold nor too hot and a well built body neither skinny nor too fat and neither too hairy nor bald are the signs of an equable temperament.
On the other hand, a thin person, with dark black hair and a yellow coloured and hot skin and with brisk movements is most probably a person with a yellow bile temperament. He is light thoughtless, imprudent, frivolous and impetuous. He precipitates everything and loves to move all the time, leaving little trace of his presence.
A phlegmatic temperament corresponds to a fatty body and cold skin with too little hair. A person with this kind of temperament has slow reactions moves slowly and gets tired quickly and easily. He is heavy. He hates travelling and moving from one place to the other.
If a person has a darkish grey or yellow skin and deep veins and blood vessels with scarce hair on the scalp as well as all over the body it means he has a black bile temperament. Such a person is coward and sad (melancholic). He thinks a lot with melancholy and reacts slowly to all events. He moves slowly and tends to stay still avoiding any unnecessary displacement from one place to the other.
A person with a blood temperament is joyous and laughs a lot. He enjoys life. He has attractive features and has a strong inclination for sex.
Each substance possesses amongst many others, specific metabolic properties that determine its energetic force. It can be likewise temperaments either hot and dry or hot and wet or cold and dry or cold and wet. Moreover, it possesses a degree on a scale of four to determine the strength of heat, humidity, coldness and dryness.
Please read more details to this subject and a list of foods and their metabolic properties under the section « BOTAVIE- Food and Temperaments ».
Prevention/ Products:
Action of DynaFortis: DynaFortis has been developed according to the principles of the Greek-Arabic UNANI Medicine in order to compensate this imbalance. By the effect of some of its plants, the body temperature can be raised while other plants would reduce the humidity. Finally other plants enable the body to evacuate waste that impedes the circulation of the humours (mucus, faeces, urine, etc.)
DynOrgan: Stimulates the action of eliminating organs.
ImmunoVie: Strengthens the natural body defences.
PRODUCTS RELATED TO THIS SYMPTOM
{{widget type="Magento\CatalogWidget\Block\Product\ProductsList" show_pager="0" products_count="10" template="Magento_CatalogWidget::product/widget/content/grid.phtml" conditions_encoded="^[`1`:^[`type`:`Magento||CatalogWidget||Model||Rule||Condition||Combine`,`aggregator`:`all`,`value`:`1`,`new_child`:``^],`1--1`:^[`type`:`Magento||CatalogWidget||Model||Rule||Condition||Product`,`attribute`:`sku`,`operator`:`()`,`value`:`76516,76526-90,76501MF,529061-100`^]^]"}}