CONCEPT OF OBESITY AND ITS MANAGEMENT IN UNANI MEDICINE-A REVIEW

Dr. Mubarak Ali* and Dr. Sofia Naushin

ABSTRACT

Obesity is a term used to describe body weight that is much higher than what is thought to be healthy for his or her height. Obesity (Simne mufrit) is a complex disorder which presents with number of risk factors in almost all age groups throughout the world. Obesity (Siman Mufrit) is a state of abnormal growth of adipose tissue, due to enlargement of fat cell size or an increase in fat cell number or in combination. W.H.O. projects that by 2015, approximately, 2.5 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. Obesity is emerging as an important health problem in India. The National Family Health Survey (N.F.H.S) shows that 12.1% men and 14.8% women in India are either overweight or obese. Obesity is a risk factor in the development of hypertension, diabetes, gall bladder diseases, coronary heart diseases, certain type of cancers and infertility. It reduces life expectancy by 7.1 years in men and 5.8 years in women. It has become a serious public health problem. During the past decades efficacious strategies have been developed for prevention of these changes. These strategies involve general lifestyle changes, which include healthy diet, optimal weight, physical activity, no alcohol consumption. In the management strategies, The modern medicine has developed many drugs but side effects have limited their role in treating obesity. Unani medicine plays an important role in the same. In Unani system of medicine there is treasure of plant origin drugs having highest diversity in their properties both in dieto and herbal therapy, which can reduce body weight and prevent diet induced obesity. Thus, in this paper authors have tried to highlight the strength of Unani medicine in the management of obesity.

Keywords: Obesity (Simne mufrit) Unani dieto obesity.