A review on gastric ulcer remedies used in Unani System of Medicine

Peptic ulcer is the erosion in lining of stomach or duodenum. The word ‘Peptic’ refers to pepsin, a stomach enzyme that break downs proteins. Peptic ulcer located in the stomach is called gastric ulcer. Normally the linings of the stomach and small intestine have protection against the irritating acid produced in stomach. For a variety of reasons, the protective mechanism may become faulty, leading to a breakdown of the lining. The result is inflammation (gastritis) or an ulcer. It is believed that adults in high stress jobs are mostly affected by gastric ulcer, but people of any age even children are found affected by this problem. Ulcer is curable with the combination of different kind of antibiotics, an acid reducer and H2 receptor blockers, proton pump inhibitors, etc., which are expensive to a common man and have prolong side effects also. In Unani system of medicine plants, animals as well as mineral origin drugs are being used clinically for the treatment of this disease without any side effect. These are time tested, centuries old, safe for use and cost effective. However, there is a need to maintain their purity, quality and safety by subjecting to scientific validation. Experimentally studied as well as potential medicinal plants used for gastric ulcer in Unani system of medicine are being discussed in this paper.