Health means the existence of harmony and synergy among physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of life, and not simply an absence of disease. Our body is a complete unit, a microcosm, but also a tiny part of the universe surrounding it, the macrocosm. It
BODY CONSTITUTION, TEMPERAMENT and HEALTH
What about the Mind?By Shahid AkbarTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Shahid Akbar, M.D., Ph.D.
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4669-2883-1Contents
1. Foreword....................................ix2. Preface.....................................xi3. Introduction................................34. Body Constitution...........................335. Temperament.................................636. Preservation of Health......................857. Role of Herbs in Health.....................1178. Lessons Learnt..............................1539. Bibliography................................161
Chapter One
BODY CONSTITUTION A vast amount of our medical knowledge originated in ancient Greece. Greeks had been using writing since c.1400 BC, but the literature had not been written down. The written form of literature started with the epics of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, in the late 8th century BC in the town of Ionia. This town was also home of Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine (460-377 BC). Before Greece, about five thousand years ago, a place in Southwest Asia, called Mesopotamia (land of rivers, situated between two giant rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates; modern day Iraq), is regarded as the Cradle of Civilization. The Mesopotamians are credited for the introduction of a writing system about 3000 BC on clay tablets. Babylon was the 2nd most important civilization after Mesopotamia, which had code of laws for all walks of life, including the practice of medicine. The earliest known regulations for the practice of medicine came from the ruler of Babylon, the Hammurabi, and are known as the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1728-1686 BC).
Aristotle, another giant of the Greek history, was born in Stagira (384-322 BC) in northern Greece. He is considered the founder of biology, and Charles Darwin regarded him as the most important contributor to the subject. Aristotle was influenced by his physician father, Nicomachus, who was attached to the Macedonian court and who instilled in him a strong interest to observe the structure of living things.
Aristotle became a pupil of Plato in Athens and later joined the Macedonian court and became tutor of the young Alexander the Great. Aristotle called forms of living things "souls," and classified them as vegetative soul (plants), sensitive soul (animals), and rational soul (human beings). His idea of soul was not as a separate entity from the body. Aristotle had amended Plato's (d. 347 BC) idea of soul, who postulated that both the Universe and man consist of a body and a soul. For Plato, there were three types of human souls; the immortal soul situated in the brain, the soul that controls emotions and is located in the breast, and the soul residing in the abdomen that controls desires.
Arabs in the seventh century AD started to study Greek sciences, including medicine. They also paid close attention to other major systems of medicine practiced in the world. The three established and independent medical systems in vogue in the world at the time were the Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine of India and the Greco-Arab Medicine, precursor of modern allopathic medicine. Arabs extensively studied the Chinese and Indian Systems, which were regarded as the most advanced at the time. For the next six centuries they thoroughly analyzed and improved on Greek concepts introduced by Hippocrates and Aristotle, and incorporated some ideas of what Chinese and Indians had been practicing.
Arabs acquired knowledge of plants from the writings of Theophrastus (c. 371-287 BC), a companion of Aristotle and regarded as the Father of Botany who wrote two famous books on plants, Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants. Invaluable information about medical uses of plants was also provided by books like De Materia Medica, written by Dioscorides (C. 40-90 AD), who as a surgeon in Nero's armies travelled extensively and gained vast knowledge and experience about medicinal plants used by various cultures. Galen (129-199 AD) was also an avid traveller of far places who studied plants, conducting his own observations and experiments and left a wealth of knowledge in the form of an eleven volumes treatise called 'The Mixing and Powers of Simple Drugs,' and later, 'The Composition of Drugs According to Types' and 'The Composition of Drugs According to Sites.' His place in medical history can be judged by the fact that many of today's formulations are still referred to as Galenical preparations.
Equipped with this vast treasure of knowledge, Arabs introduced new, critically analyzed, refined and updated concepts to the world that took into account the most established and tested theories of the time. A number of valuable and authoritative books on medicine and surgery, such as "Firdaus-ul-Hikmat" by Al-Tabri (838-870 AD), "Kitab Al-Hawi" by Al-Razi (known as Rhazes in the west; 864-930 AD), "At-Tasrif" by Al-Zohrawi (known as Albucasis; 936-1013 AD), "The Canon of Medicine" by Ibn-Sina (Avicenna; 980-1037 AD), and "Tashrih-i-Insan" or Human Anatomy by Mansur Faqih Ilyas, published in 1396, etc. to name a few, were written during this period. The most comprehensive book on Greco-Arab Medicine "The Canon of Medicine" written in 1017 AD was regarded the most authoritative text on medicine and has the distinction of being the standard textbook of medicine all over the world for more than six centuries, until 1657 AD. This book had been translated into all languages of the civilized world, including 28 editions in Latin alone.
Greco-Arab System, brought to India by Arab travellers and merchants is known in the Indian subcontinent as the Unani Medicine due to its origin in Unan (Greece). It is mainly based on Greek teachings and improvements made by Arab physicians and surgeons. The system is practised by thousands of institutionally trained traditional medical practitioners, called Hakims, and utilized by the millions as the primary and sometimes the only source for healthcare in the Indian subcontinent.
According to Unani Medicine concepts, Seven Natural Principles, known as 'Al-Umur-al-Tabiyah' define the constituents and govern the functioning of human body. Existence of human body and maintenance of health depend upon them, and ill-health or disease results from their disorder. These are not just physical attributes of the body like a man-made machine but involve aspects that are sometimes difficult to describe in physical terms. There are similarities, nonetheless in broader sense, with modern physiological concepts that define body and it's functioning.
The Seven Natural Principles are described as:
1. Elements known as Al-Arkaan or Al-Anaseer
2. Temperament or Al-Mizaaj
3. Humours (Body fluids) or Al-Akhlaat
4. Organs (Members) or Al-A'za
5. Pneuma (Vital spirit) or Al-Arwah
6. Faculties (Powers) or Al-Quwa
7. Functions or Al-Afa'l
Additional factors called 'Asbab-Sitta-Zaruriyah' or 'Six Essential Causes' complement the Seven Principles for the preservation of health and optimal body functioning. Their influence and importance in the causation of disease or even death cannot be over-emphasised.
Following are regarded as the six 'Essential Causes':
* Atmospheric air or Al-Hawa-al-Muheet
* Foods and...
