The concept of abd?l-i-Adwiya (drug substitution/ therapeutic interchange) in Unani medicine – A critical appraisal
Abstract
Background:
The concept of drug substitution/ therapeutic interchange is an age old concept of Unani Medicine in which an appropriate substitute according to the principles is allowed, when the first desired drug is not available for treatment purposes. The present review has carried out to explore various drug substitutes mentioned in Unani literature to combat the present scenario where many Unani drugs have become endangered, over-exploited and costliest. Materials and Methods:
The classical Unani literature pertaining to drug substitution, ethnobotanical survey regarding phytochemistry and various scientific journals indexed in PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, SCOPUS, Google scholars and Research gate were analysed.
Results: This review study has shown that ancient to till date Unani physicians have given emphasis on need basis therapeutic interchange but the principles of drug substitution as discussed in Unani Medicine should strictly be followed to select an appropriate substitute. After reviewing classical Unani literature and scientific papers, it was also found that many substitutes of original drugs having similarities in pharmacological actions and phytoconstituents.
Conclusion: The effort should be made to investigate substitute of rare and high cost Unani drugs through preclinical, clinical and phytochemical studies by which this concept of Unani Medicine can be validated scientifically.
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