Abstract

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON OBESITY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES OF RECENT RESEARCHES ON OBESITY IN ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM OF MEDICINE

Abhar Qureshi*, Zaffar Hussain and Rifat Ara

ABSTRACT

Background and information: Anyone having BMI more than or equivalent to 30 kg/m2 is termed as obese. The concept of obesity is way too old and explained by various renowned Unani physicians like Bukrat, Jurjani, Ibn Sena, Nafees, Razi and many more. Excessive eating, sedentary lifestyle are attributed to the important causes of obesity. According to the Unani system of medicine change in temperament is stated to be the actual etiology of this disease. Unani system of medicine provides a wide range of single as well as compound drugs to combat this menace. In this review about obesity we attempt to highlight the overall concept and certain important researches about obesity in Unani System of Medicine. Material and Methods: In this paper, we have thoroughly reviewed the types, etiology, pathogenesis, and managements of obesity. For this purpose the search engines of google scholar, science direct, pubmed and other notable websites were searched. All relevant information upto 2023 was gathered for the study. The Unani literature was sourced from Classical Unani literature available on the subject in the library of RRIUM, Srinagar. Observation and results: The present literature focuses on the description as well as the wide variety of treatment options provided by Unani system of medicine to alleviate this disease. It aims at highlighting the important researches in the field of Unani about various herbal remedies being used to treat obesity. Conclusion: Obesity is a common metabolic disorder whose incidence is increasing  rapidly. Unani system of medicine classifies it as phelgamatic disease which occurs as a result of increased proportion of phlegm in the body. Unani medicine provides a wholesome of single as well as compound medicine to tackle the menace. Several researches have been conducted by the Unani researchers on this topic but much work needs to be done to validate certain other anti obesity and anti lipidemic drugs which are mentioned in classical Unani literature so as to increase the quality of life among masses. 

Keywords: Obesity, Bukrat, Jurjani, Ibn e sena, Nafees, Unani system of medicine.