Conceptual Understanding of Preventive Strategies for Metabolic Disorders in Unani Medicine: A Narrative Review

The global burden of metabolic disorders is increasing at an alarming rate. These disorders have a huge impact in terms of human suffering and economic implications. There is an urgent need for effective strategies, including the use of traditional systems of medicine, to reduce the burden of these diseases.

The objective of this article is to compile information on preventive strategies for metabolic disorders found in Unani medicine.

A literature survey of classical Unani texts was conducted to understand the conceptual framework in Unani medicine underlying preventive strategies for metabolic disorders. Electronic databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were searched to obtain the evidence needed to validate the Unani medicine viewpoint.

Unani scholars have described a set of clinical conditions caused by the insufficiency of the nutritive faculty. These conditions correlate in many ways with metabolic disorders. Cold dystemperament of the liver is considered to be the cause of insufficiency of nutritive faculty. Therefore, care and protection of the liver is considered as the main preventive approach for metabolic disorders in Unani medicine. Several epidemiological studies have also reported a strong relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome.

The broad set of approaches (based on its theoretical foundations) used by Unani scholars to maintain the nutritive faculty in its optimal functional state seems to be an effective measure for the prevention of metabolic disorders.