Neela Thotha (Copper sulphate): An important mineral drug of Unani medicine to be used in the management of various ailments

Abstract

Neela Thotha (Copper sulphate) is a mineral origin drug in Unani system of medicine (USM). Chemically, it is known as copper sulphate that formulated as CuSO4. It is used by various Unani scholars to manage different ailments in effective and safe manner as Mufrad (single) and Murakkab (compound) form viz. Amrad Jild (skin disease), Amrad Chashm (eyes diseases), Amrad Nizam Hadm (GIT diseases), Amrad Tansuliya (sexually transmit diseases), Amrad Dimag (brain diseases), Amrad Tanffus (respiratory disease) and Poisoning of certain substances. A review was done by bibliographic database from ScienceDirect, Medline, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Ebsco Publishing's Electronic Databases, and Scirus. Search was done by using key words viz. ‘Neela Thotha’, ‘Copper sulphate ’, ‘Tootiya’, and ‘CuSO4’, literature of  Neela Thotha was also collected from the renowned Unani text book viz. Khazain-ul-Advia, Mohit-e-Aazam, Makhzan-ul-Mufradat, and Mufradat-e-Azizi and also from standard conventional books viz. Indian Medicinal Plants, and Parikh’s Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. In conventional medicine Neela Thotha considered as poisonous substance characterized by colicky abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, severe headache, albuminuria, dyspnoea, circulatory failure, coma and death and avoids its use in human being. While in USM after proper detoxification of Neela Thotha is used in various ailments. Neela Thotha and its formulations have been claimed by Unani scholars to be useful in the management of various ailments. In this article authors have an attempt to explore properties and used of Neela Thotha in several ailments. Keywords: Neela Thotha; Tootiya; CuSO4; Copper sulphate; Copper