DR. ALI - School of Advanced Unani Medicine

OR, What happens to the metabolic quality of the body as adipose tissue expands? Modern research increasingly views obesity as a chronic, relapsing, multifactorial disease, involving adipose-tissue dysfunction, insulin resistance, inflammation, altered appetite regulation, ectopic fat and changes in metabolic adaptation. BMI remains useful, but waist circumference and cardiometabolic assessment add important clinical information. The discussion also raises several clinical clues: • BMI is not the whole phenotype. Central adiposity may matter more than weight alone. • Muscle is metabolic currency. Losing weight without preserving lean mass is not necessarily a successful outcome. • Sedentary behaviour matters, even in people who exercise periodically. • Metabolically unhealthy normal-weight individuals exist. • The gut–liver–adipose–brain axis deserves attention rather than treating obesity as an isolated fat-storage problem. • Modern pharmacotherapy, including GLP-1–based t...

A Unani physician should hesitate before making this equation: Joint pain = Waja-ul-Mafasil = Habbe Gul-e-Aak. The more important question is: Is this Su-e-Mizaj Sada—or Su-e-Mizaj Maddi? And if Maddi, what is the Madda, where is it being generated, and where is it being diverted? Classical Unani descriptions recognise Waja al-Mafasil as arising through both non-humoral and humoral mechanisms. In Su-e-Mizaj Maddi, morbid matter may accumulate in the joint or be diverted from deranged organs and the body as a whole. THIS CHANGES HOW WE READ THE PATIENT Consider the patient with: • generalized/post-febrile arthralgia rather than a single structurally affected joint • heaviness of Meda and impaired Hazm • epigastric discomfort without dominant acidity • bloating and sluggish digestion • Balghami sputum/respiratory symptoms • generalized bodily heaviness and pain The Unani clinician should not immediately isolate the joint. Meda → Hazm → production/quality of Akhlat...

Women’s health is often reduced to “hormones.” Unani medicine offers a broader clinical framework: Mizaj → Akhlat → Quwwat → A‘za → Af‘al → Asbab-e-Sitta Zarooriya. WHO’s benchmark on Unani medicine identifies these as the seven Umur-e-Tabi‘iyya—the foundational natural factors governing health and disease.  🔹The Critical Point: Do Not Turn Mizaj into a Hormone Chart A woman is not simply “hot,” “cold,” “estrogen-deficient,” or “hormonally imbalanced.” Mizaj is a constitutional framework, while disease develops through interactions among temperament, humoral state, organ function, lifestyle, environment and regulatory faculties. A 2025 review specifically examining Mizaj and women’s health argues that temperament may contribute to individualized approaches to prevention and treatment—but this remains a conceptual/clinical framework requiring stronger validation, not a substitute for modern diagnostic assessment.  The Applied Unani Female-Health Model Mizaj ↓ Akhla...

I regularly share my Applied Unani research, clinical observations, and practical perspectives here on Blogger. But I keep asking myself: Are we only reading—or are we discussing? Because a post should not end when we finish reading it. It should start a conversation. I want my fellow Unanians to do something simple: ❤️ Like if the topic adds value. 💬 Comment with your experience—even if you disagree. 📚 Add references, evidence, or classical insights. 💡 Tell me what I should research and write about next. Let’s discuss the questions that actually matter: ❗What should Applied Unani Medicine look like today? Which classical concepts deserve scientific exploration? Which clinical problems need practical Unani protocols? Where is our evidence strong—and where do we need better research? Which Mufradat, Murakkabat, diagnostic concepts, or lifestyle interventions deserve deeper investigation? I don't want to create a page where one person speaks and everyone else simply re...

A Methodological Rethinking of Classical Text, Translation and Modern Correlation The future of Applied Unani Medicine depends not only on making Unani clinically relevant, but also on preserving the semantic integrity of its classical corpus. This distinction is becoming increasingly important. Unani medicine possesses a vast Arabic–Persian intellectual heritage. The CCRUM itself has undertaken translation, digitisation and terminology-standardisation projects, including a compendium of approximately 4,028 Unani terms—an indication of both the richness of the terminology and the need for precision in its transmission. The central problem When a classical concept is translated into modern biomedical language, three different things can happen: Translation → Interpretation → Modern correlation The danger begins when these three are presented as though they were identical. A translator may simplify a difficult term for accessibility. An interpreter may explain its physiologic...

پہلا اصول: ذیابیطس کو صرف لبلبہ + انسولین کی بیماری سمجھنا جدید physiology کو محدود کرنا ہے؛ ساتھ ہی اسے صرف قوتِ غاذیہ کی کمزوری قرار دینا بھی کلاسیکی متون کی درست ترجمانی نہیں ہےـ کلاسیکی Unani میں “ذیابیطس” کا اصل clinical محور: کلیہ + سوء مزاج + قوتِ ماسکہ + جاذبہ/دافعہ + رطوبات کا غیر معمولی اخراج۔ ابنِ سینا نے ذیابیطس کو الدولاب/زلق الکلیہ کے تصورات سے بیان کیا اور کلیوی کمزوری، کلیوی مزاج کی خرابی اور رطوبت کے تیز اخراج کو اس کے بنیادی pathological تصور سے جوڑا۔ بعد کے اطباء نے ذیابیطس حار و بارد اور ذیابیطس شکری و سادہ کی مختلف تقسیمات بیان کیں۔ (ابنِ سینا، القانون فی الطب؛ رازی، الحاوی؛ مجوسی، کامل الصناعۃ). 🔗 اصل کلاسیکی mechanism سوءِ مزاج/ضعفِ کلیہ ↓ قوتِ ماسکہ میں اختلال ↓ کلیہ رطوبت کو مناسب طور پر روک نہیں پاتا ↓ قوتِ دافعہ کا غلبہ ↓ کثرتِ بول ↓ عطش → مزید پانی → مزید اخراج ↓ دولاب / Water-wheel phenomenon یعنی کلاسیکی تصور میں ذیابیطس کا مرکزی سوال یہ تھا: جسم میں آنے والی رطوبت کلیہ کیوں نہیں روک پا رہا؟ یہ جدید “glucose-centred” definition سے مختلف concep...