A review on tissue formation from humors in the light of unani fundamentals

Abstract

The Unani system of Medicine discusses the anatomy and physiology of the human body under one roof and propounds the theory of seven basic principles (Kulliyat-e-Umur-e-Tabi’yah) for the same. Aa‘za (organs) is one of these seven basic principles and belongs to the category of Asbab-e-Maddiyah, which means that they have been considered as one of the materialistic causes for the body; where health or disease resides when acted upon by the Asbab-e-Faila (efficient causes). According to the Greeco-Arab scholars Aa‘za, in particular aa‘za-e-mufradah have their origin in body fluids, specifically the dense part of the humors; a theory which many of today’s physiologists would outright reject based on the fact that cells pour out their secretions into the blood rather vice versa. However, it should not be assumed that our forefathers were absolutely wrong in their theory of organ formation. In this paper, it has been tried to identify the coarse and fine humors with respect to their functions in the body and how they take part in the formation of cells and tissues to substantiate the concept of cell formation from body fluids put forth by the ancient scholars on modern parameters.