HOW UNANI WORKS:

The essential constituents and the working principles of the body, according to unani can classified into seven main groups, arkan or elements, comprising earth, water, air and fire as different states of matter and the building blocks of everything in the universe; miraj(temperament); akhlat (humours); aza(organs); arwah(life,spirits or vital breaths);quva (energy); and afal(action). each of the four elements has its own special qualities: earth is cold and dry;water is cold and moist; fire is hot and dry;air is hot and moist. the resultant quality of the uniform body is called 'mizaj'. the temperature of a substance may be a mizaj-e-mutadil(balanced one) or a mizaj-e-ghair-mutadil(imbalanced one)different types and shades of imbalanced one temperaments are described in unani,which beleives that at birth every person is endowed with a unique and healthy humoural constitution determining the temperament of an individual.unani also postulates that the body contains a self-preservative power,which strives to restore any disturbance within the limits prescribed by the constitution or state of the individual. the physician merely aims to help and develop rather than supersede or impede the action of this power.

"a unani physician does not prescribe the strongest drug at the begining of the treatment. he selects the drug according to the degree of variation from the normal healthy condition,and observes the effect produced by the treatment at the same time ,he instructs the patients to observe some restrictions in diet and life style".

This is necessary as the therapautic effect of this mild drugs may be counter balanced to an extent by a faulty diet or life style .particular care has to be taken while treating a hot,cold ,dry or moist .disease with food or drug of the opposite quality".

since in unani , health and diesease depend upon thethe equilibrium or imbalance between the four humours, a thorough examination of the pulse is under taken to determine which humour is dominant at the time . the examination of the urine is the next important step ,its colour taste ,viscosity, whether it has froth on its surface ,
bubbbles formed are large , indicating balgham ,or smell indicating safra ,are scrutinised .the stool is also examined in a similar way .some unani physicians also examine the blood pressure and use the stethoscopes to study the breathing and heart sounds

Modern reasearch:
Recent reasearch has proved that unani medicines are highly effective in treating diesesses like malaria,hepatitis B,
LEUKODURMA AND OTHER SKIN DIESEASES. unani is also said to be effective in increasing immunity levels in AIDS patients . ZIABETUS or diabetes in its early stages are fully curable using unani .its efficacy in treating sexual disorders remainds unrevalled . unani medicines permanently and effectively cure every sexual ailment ,even sterility in women, unlike modern medicines like viagra and its indian variants which have harmful side -effects ,unani also improves the general health ,viguor and vitality of the person .

Some misperception:
Most of the practising Unani physicians in india are muslims . though there are any practioners from other communities ,most people think unani as solely a muslim system of medicine . unanai is a well developed medical science and has notyhing to do with islam or muslims culture . number of students from other communities in unani medical mcpolleges in south india is in increasing and they are not only going for undergraduate courses but post graduates courses as well ,unani is used by both rich and poor educateed and illetrates ,men and women alike , unani medicines are comparatively expensive but this is due to the careful selection of herbs and other natural ingredients ,which are coatly and scarce , these medicines being totally free from side effects , even modern scholars and new generation youngsters opt for it. infact only the real and recognised medicines to suit modern man,s habits and temperament, unani is all set to benefit enormously from peoples new found love for herbal and natural systems of medicine.

"at the same time, he instructs the patients to observe some restrictions in diet ad lifestyle"