Clinical assessment of Mizaj (Temperament) in the patients of Niqris (Gouty arthritis)

Abstract

Hippocrates (460-370BC), the father of medicine and the architect of the Unani system of medicine, was the first to propose the ideology of Mizaj (temperament). The notion of Mizaj (temperament) is unique to the Unani system of medicine, and the entire system is centered around its core principle. According to this philosophy, each person has a specific Mizaj (temperament) that is fixed and cannot be modified. Each person has their own tastes, preferences, dislikes, passions, and abilities. All of these attributes combine to form an individual's elite disposition or Mizaj (temperament). The state of a person's health and susceptibility to sicknesses are directly impacted by it. Unani physicians have described an individual's Mizaj (temperament) into four categories Damvi (sanguine), Balghami (phlegmatic), Safravi (bilious) and Saudavi (melancholic). Gout, a crystalline arthropathy is an inflammatory response to the Monosodium urate monohydrate crystals formed secondary to hyperuricemia. The objective of the study was to evaluate and analyze the Mizaj (temperament) of patients with Gout (Niqris). Based on the traditional concept of temperament, the findings of this study have the prospects to avert and manage Gouty arthritis (Niqris). The study was executed in A & U Tibbia College, Karol Bagh, New Delhi-05. 40 patients with the confirmed clinical diagnosis of Gout (Niqris) fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. Mizaj of the subjects was evaluated by a standard questionnaire of temperament. In the present observational study, the higher incidence of patients was observed in Balghami (phlegmatic) followed by Damvi (sanguine) Mizaj. This study is as per classical Unani literature, so the patient's temperament (Mzaj) may be considered a key element in the origin and development of Niqris.