DR. ALI - School of Advanced Unani Medicine

This is one of the most familiar complaints in Unani OPD. A patient presents with: Morning sneezing + nasal itching + watery discharge + post-nasal drip + throat clearing Then you discover something else: Bloating. Dyspepsia. Reflux. Food-related aggravation. Sometimes itching or urticaria. Is this only a nose problem? Or are we looking at a recurrent pathological pattern? 🌱 THIS IS WHERE BALGHAM-E-SHOR BECOMES INTERESTING Unani medicine does not regard every Balghami state as identical. Normal Balgham → cold + moist Whereas Balgham-e-Shor (Balgham Malih) is classically described as an abnormal phlegmatic state with a saline/alkaline character and inclination toward heat and dryness. So the clinical question changes: Is there simply MORE Balgham—or has its QUALITY changed? 🔬 NOW LOOK THROUGH THE LENS OF MODERN ALLERGY Allergen exposure can initiate: IgE sensitisation → mast-cell activation → histamine/other mediators → itching + sneezing + rhinorrhoea + mucus secretion Pe...

Not by translating every Unani concept into a modern biomedical term. Not by replacing Mizaj, Tabi‘at, Akhlat or Quwwat-e-Hazima with fashionable terminology. And certainly not by conducting research that ignores how Unani is actually practised. The starting point should be the Unani clinic itself. 🌿 A PRACTICAL APPLIED UNANI MODEL 1. DEFINE THE PATIENT PHENOTYPE Instead of recording only “gastritis” or “urticaria”, document: Mizaj → symptoms → triggers → dietary pattern → digestion → sleep → bowel habit → lifestyle → examination → investigations. This converts a traditional clinical assessment into a structured dataset. 2. DOCUMENT THE UNANI DIAGNOSIS Record the physician's reasoning: Su-e-Mizaj? Fasad-e-Meda? Fasad-e-Dam? Weak Quwwat-e-Hazima? Imbalance in Daf‘? The objective is to make the clinical reasoning visible and reproducible. 3. PRESERVE INDIVIDUALIZATION If two patients have the same biomedical diagnosis but different Mizaj, digestive capacity and symptom p...

One of Unani medicine’s most sophisticated—but underdeveloped—therapeutic concepts is Mufarrehat. Traditionally, they are associated with Farah, strengthening of the heart and improvement of the mental state. ❗But can we clinically reinterpret them for the modern patient with multimorbidity? I believe we should. Today’s patient may present with: Chronic stress + dyspepsia + poor sleep + fatigue + palpitations + anxiety-like symptoms + metabolic dysfunction + reduced motivation. Modern science increasingly describes these not as isolated compartments but as interacting systems. WHO now explicitly promotes integrated approaches linking mental, neurological and physical health. And contemporary research on the gut–brain axis shows bidirectional communication involving neural, endocrine, immune and microbial pathways; chronic stress can influence gut function, permeability, inflammation and mental health. THIS OPENS A NEW DOOR FOR UNANI. Rather than defining Mufarrehat merely a...

A common question in Unani Medicine is: Are Sweet Almond and Bitter Almond two different botanical species? ❗No. According to the current Kew Plants of the World Online (POWO), the accepted botanical species is: 🌱 Prunus amygdalus Batsch Family: Rosaceae Both Sweet and Bitter Almond are placed under this same species. 🔬 BOTANICAL IDENTITY ≠ VARIETAL IDENTITY Species-level identity: Prunus amygdalus Batsch Traditional Unani varietal/form distinction: 🔹 Badam Shirin (Sweet Almond) → P. amygdalus var. dulcis 🔹 Badam Talkh (Bitter Almond) → P. amygdalus var. amara Kew currently treats both varietal names as synonyms under Prunus amygdalus. ❗THEN WHAT IS PRUNUS DULCIS? This is the major source of confusion. Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb is a widely used name for almond in scientific literature. However, Kew currently treats Prunus dulcis as a synonym of Prunus amygdalus Batsch—not as a separate almond species. Therefore, the simplest way to remember it is: ONE ACCEPTED SPEC...

India is experiencing a seasonal rise in influenza during the monsoon/post-monsoon period. Recent surveillance reports describe Influenza A(H1N1) pdm09 as the predominant detected Influenza A strain. Most cases are mild/self-limiting, but high-risk and complicated cases require modern clinical management. ❗So, how can we apply Unani Medicine intelligently? I would approach Nazla-e-Waba’i / influenza-like illness through clinical phenotype + Mizaj, rather than giving one “anti-flu” prescription to everybody. 1️⃣ Balghami / Cold-Wet phenotype Features: nasal congestion, watery discharge, phlegmatic cough, heaviness, chills. Mufradat: Unnab + Sapistan + Behidana; Zufa + Asl-us-soos where appropriate. Nuskha: Joshanda: Behidana 3 g + Unnab 5 + Sapistan 7–9 + Zufa 3 g → decoction, warm, divided doses. 2️⃣ Safrawi / Hot-Dry phenotype Features: high fever, thirst, dry irritating cough, burning throat, scanty sputum. Mufradat: Behidana, Sapistan, Unnab, Banafsha. Nuskha: Behidana 3...

Here is an uncomfortable question for the Unani community: If our predecessors questioned the knowledge they inherited, why are we sometimes afraid to question what we inherited from them? Greek medicine was not simply preserved by the Arab and Persian physicians. It was translated, debated, criticised, expanded and clinically reworked. Al-Razi challenged established views. Ibn Sina systematised and synthesised knowledge. Al-Zahrawi advanced surgery. Ibn al-Nafis challenged Galenic anatomy. They were not intellectual photocopiers. When the tradition reached India, it evolved again—through Indian clinical experience, local materia medica, pharmacological innovation and generations of physicians. That is the real history of Unani: evolution through inquiry. ❗So why should intellectual evolution stop with the classical masters? A classical statement deserves respect. But does it automatically deserve permanent immunity from questioning? A centuries-old therapeutic claim may be...

There was a time when a young Hakim did not merely read Hikmat—he learned to see like a Hakim. The Ustad–Shagird tradition was the original clinical training system. Students learned Mizaj, Nabz, subtle clinical clues, Mufrad Advia, Murakkabat, pharmacy practices and even Kushtajat through observation, demonstration, questioning, repetition and supervised practice. Then came institutionalisation. It brought structure, universities, examinations, departments, research and wider access—undoubtedly major achievements. But somewhere along the journey, we must ask: ❗Did we preserve the curriculum while losing part of the clinical culture that made Hikmat clinically alive? Today, a student may know the definition of Mizaj—but can he recognise it confidently at the bedside? He may memorise hundreds of Advia—but can he select the right Mufrad or Murakkab based on the patient's clinical picture? He may study classical texts—but can he convert their principles into a rational cli...