Psoriasis with special reference to Unani medicine – A review

Abstract

Background. Psoriasis is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory skin disorder that affects about 125 million people worldwide. Patients with psoriasis are more likely to develop inflammatory arthritis, cardiometabolic disease, and mental health issues. Psoriasis remains incurable and recurrent despite the availability of contemporary treatments. Unani (Greco-Arabic) medicine has its unique concept of psoriasis; numerous treatments and formulations are prescribed by renowned Unani scholars.Objective. This study sought to provide an understanding of psoriasis in conventional medicine, as well as clinically equivalent conditions documented by ancient Unani academics in their writings, such as Rūfas, Jālinūs, Rāzī, Ibn Sīna, Majūsi, Ibn-i Zuhr, Ibn al- Quf, and Ibn-i Hubal Baghdādi.Methods. The Unani classical literature was researched manually and online for this purpose. PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar were utilized to assemble all the classic and contemporary psoriasis disease-related literature.Results. Since antiquity, Unani scholars have advocated ‘Ilāj bi’l Ghiḍhā (diet therapy), ‘Ilāj bi’l- Tadbīr (regimenal therapy), ‘Ilāj bi’l Dawā (drug therapy) to treat disorders clinically comparable to psoriasis.Conclusion. This study provided a comprehensive evaluation of existing psoriasis knowledge, with an emphasis on Unani medicine, which may be valuable for generating integrated hypotheses to treat the psoriasis challenge.