فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Better preventive care is a prerequisite to foster community health and in reducingthe unnecessary burden on the health‑care system. The Unani System of Medicine has given dueemphasis on preventive care. This article aims to discuss the health promotion and disease preventionapproaches in Unani Medicine.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A manual literature survey of classical Unani texts such asFirdaus‑al‑hikmat, Al Qanoon‑fit‑tib, Kitab‑al‑mansoori, Kitab‑al‑kulliyat, and Kitab‑al‑taisir wasconducted to collect the information available on the strategic approaches of health promotion anddisease prevention in Unani Medicine. To obtain the appropriate English equivalent words for Unaniterms and the scientific name of the drugs, “Standard Unani Medical Terminology” and “Classificationof Unani Drugs” were consulted, respectively.RESULTS: The findings of the literature survey revealed that Unani physicians have advocated thepersonalized and predictive approaches for maintaining health and preventing diseases. Personalizedapproach mainly centers on the temperament of an individual. By determining an individual’stemperament, Unani physician can tell what is adequate or not adequate for the individual. While inthe predictive approach, correct knowledge of prodromal symptoms is a prerequisite to predict thefuture developments in the human body and recommending the appropriate preventive measuresaccordingly.CONCLUSION: These approaches present interesting perspectives in the field of promotive andpreventive care and are of much relevance in the present scenario. Unfortunately, the lack of efficacystudies is a limiting factor in their application. Hence, effective protocol must be developed to provideevidence‑based data and to give grounds for their widespread usage.