Unani Medicines as Adjunct Therapy in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus
Unani philosophy, diabetes is a disease in which the consumed water is passed out through the kidney immediately after its intake by an individual without any metabolic change. Due to hot temperament of kidneys, the water is absorbed from the blood circulation and sent to the urinary bladder. As per Unani philosophy of causation of disease, it is based on mizaji (temperamental) and saakhti (structural) deviation. Any imbalance between mizaj (temperament) and saakht (structure) results in disease.
According to eminent Unani physicians, the drugs that correct the Mizaj of kidney and liver or restore the retentive power (quwwat-e-masika) of kidneys are used to manage “Ziabetus haar.” So the line of treatment need to be adopted is as under: Correction of Su’-e- mizaj, Removal of predisposing cause
Research: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 484 diabetes patients at a primary health care center of Bengaluru from January to December, 2018. Systematic random sampling method was employed to obtain the required sample size. Information from patients was collected through personal interv, iews by using a semi-structured questionnaire after obtaining their written informed consent. Treatment satisfaction questionnaire for medication (version 1.4) was used to measure the major dimensions of patient satisfaction with treatment.
Results: A prevalence rate of 25.6% of Unani medicines use in diabetics was observed in the present study. Unani medicine use was significantly associated with religion and socioeconomic status; while it was independent of age, gender and clinical characteristics of patients. Its Usage was found to be better in various treatment satisfaction components like effectiveness, safety and overall satisfaction (p = 0.001). While conventional medicine use singly was more convenient than the combined usage of conventional and Unani medicines (p = 0.01). Glycated haemoglobin, fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels in Unani medicine users were found significantly lower than non-users with a p-value of 0.001, 0.032 and 0.036, respectively. Conclusion: A considerable proportion of diabetics use Unani medicines along with conventional medicine and their use is sufficiently effective and safe in controlling the glycemic level.
