The Role of Unani in Lifestyle Diseases

Introduction There are many serious challenges facing healthcare authorities worldwide. In the developed, countries these challenges are related less and less to infectious diseases, but increasingly to the so-called “lifestyle diseases”, that is, disorders, largely self-inflicted, arising from imprudent personal behaviour, activities and even over-indulgence. In the developing countries, however, the healthcare challenges are largely allied to poverty, poor sanitation and chronic malnutrition; factors which provide a fertile ground for diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. However, even in these countries the “diseases of lifestyle” are, ominously, becoming more prevalent, as increasing numbers of the populace adopt the deleterious lifestyle practices which often predominate in Western societies. This presentation outlines what we know about lifestyle diseases, and how their prevention and treatment can considered from the Unani-Unani perspective.