Holistic concept of bahaq wa bars and their management in Unani [Grego-Arabic] system of medicine

A comprehensive description of Amraze jild [skin diseases] is available in classical Unani literature. Ancient Greco-Arabic scholars have described Bahaq wa Bars [pityriasis and vitiligo] in detail along with etiopathogenesis, clinical features, complications, and management in their treatises. According to Razi, Ibn Sina, and Majoosi, Bahaq was Bars are chronic skin ailments that are characterized by white discoloration [hypopigmentation] of skin but with a precise difference. While in case of Bahaq, these patches are located superficially on skin, in Bars these are located deep into the skin. These are humoral diseases occurring because of accumulation of excess or morbid Balgham [phlegm] beneath the skin leading to the weakness of quwate mughaiyarah [augmentative faculty] of skin. Ancient Unani scholars have been treating these ailments successfully since antiquity. They have mentioned and practised a compendium of single as well as compound herbo-mineral formulations for the treatment of Bahaq wa Bars. In this paper, authors have tried to elucidate the holistic concept of these skin aliments along with the treatment as mentioned in classics of Unani medicine

Etiological factors and clinical profile of adhesive capsulitis in patients seen at the rheumatology clinic of a tertiary care hospital in India

This study was conducted to examine the clinical profile of patients with adhesive capsulitis [AC] and evaluate various possible etiological factors. The study was conducted in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Kashmir, India. One hundred patients fulfilling the criteria for the diagnosis of AC were studied for the severity of shoulder pain and the range of shoulder movements. The patients were also examined for the presence of various etiological factors for AC. Age of the subjects ranged from 25-70 years and duration of symptoms averaged 3.66 +/- 2.36 months; left shoulder was more commonly involved [54%], 2% had bilateral involvement and 63% of the subjects were sedentary workers. Disease was seen most commonly in patients with diabetes mellitus [27%]. Other identifiable risk factors included previous myocardial infarction [5%], immobilization [5%], stroke and chronic bronchitis [4% each]. Fifty-six% of patients with AC had radiological evidence of cervical spondylosis. We conclude that AC mostly affects people in the fifth to seventh decade. The majority of the affected individuals are sedentary at the time of the sickness and subjects with diabetes mellitus are at particular risk