About Hasani Pharmacy in 177/41, Gwynne Road, Lucknow

History
The Unani system of medicine owes, its origin to Greece. The term ‘UNANI’ is derived from the word ‘UNAN’ or ‘Ionian’ which means Greece in Arabic ‘YAVANAS ‘in sanskrit. It was the work of the Greek philosopher-physician Hippocrates {Buqrat In Arabic} (460-377 B.C.), who freed medicine from the realm of superstition and magic and established it as a science. He considered illness to be natural rather phenomenon and felt that medicine should be administered without ritual ceremonies or magic. The theoretical framework of Unani Medicine is based on the teachings of Hippocrates. By his method of careful study and comparison of symptoms, he laid the foundation for clinical medicine. After Hippocrates a number of other Greek scholars enriched the system considerably. Of them Galen {Jalinus in Arabic} (131-200 A.D.) stands out as the one who established its foundation on which Arab physicians like Rhazes {Al-Razi in Arabic} (850-932 A.D.) and Avicenna {Ibn-Sena in Arabic} (980-1037 A.D.) constructed an imposing edifice.prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h is reported to have said that prophet daivid was the progenitor of ilm ul advia pharmacology every plant and stone used to tell him about its benefits and properties . Unani Medicine enriched itself by imbibing the best in the contemporary systems of traditional medicine in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Persia, India, China and other Middle East and Far East countries .

In India, Unani system of Medicine was introduced by Arabs which soon took firm roots in the soil.its history in India is one thousand years old When Mongols plundered Persian and Central Asian cities like Shiraz, Tabrez and Galan, rai khorasan bukhara chisht and hamadan Alims and Physicians of Unani Medicine took refuge in India. The Delhi Sultan, the Khiljis, the Tughlaqs and the Mughal Emperors provided state patronage to these scholars and physician patronaged some as state employees and court physicians.During 13th and 17th Centuries Unani Medicine had its golden period in India. Some of the eminient physicians of this period were Abu Bakr Bin Ali Usman Ksahani, Sadruddin Damashqui, Bahwa bin Khwas khan, Ali Geelani, Akbal Arzani and Mohammad Hashim Alvi Khan.
During the British rule, Unani Medicine suffered a setback and its development was hampered due to withdrawal of governmental patronage. Since the system enjoyed faith among the masses it continued to be practiced. It was mainly the Sharifi Family in Delhi, the Azizi family in Lucknow and the Nizam of Hyderabad due to whose efforts Unani Medicine survived during the British period. An outstanding physician and scholar of Unani Medicine, Hakim Ajmal Khan (1868-1927) championed the caused of the system in India

Some outstanding unani physicians
• Al Tabbari (838–870)
•Al Razi (Rhazes) (841–926)
•Al Zahrawi (930–1013)
•Avicenna (980–1037)
•Ibn Al Haitham (960–1040)
•Ibn Sina (Avicenna), (980–1037)
•Ibn Al Nafees (1213–1288)
•Ibn Khaldun (1332–1395)
Medical achievements of unani-tibbi physicians:
•Avicenna was the first to describe meningitis , so accurately and in such detail, that it has scarcely required additions after 1,000 years.
•Avicenna was the first to describe intubation (surgical procedure to facilitate breathing)—Western physicians began to use this method at the end of the eighteenth century.
•The use of plaster of Paris for fractures by the Arabs was standard practice—it was "rediscovered" in the West in 1852.
•Surgery was used by the Arabs to correct cataracts.
•Ibn Al Nafees discovered pulmonary blood circulation.
•A strict system of licensing for medical practitioners was introduced in Baghdad in 931, which included taking the Hippocratic Oath, and specific periods of training for doctors.
•There was a system of inspection of drugs and pharmaceuticals—the equivalent of the Federal Drug Administration (FDA)—in Baghdad 1,000 years ago.
•The European system of medicine was based on the Arabic system, and even as recently as the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne had to read the canon of Avicenna as a condition to graduating.
•Unani-tibbi hospitals were, from the beginning, free to all without discrimination on the basis of religion, sex, ethnicity, or social status.
•Their hospitals allocated different wards for each classification of disease.
•Hospitals had unlimited water supplies and bathing facilities.
•Before the advent of the printing press, there were extensive handwritten libraries in Baghdad, (80,000 volumes), Cordova, (600,000 volumes), Cairo, (two million volumes), and Tripoli, (three million volumes).
•All Unani-tibbi hospitals kept patient records.
•A hospital was established for lepers.
•In 830, nurses were brought from Sudan to work in the Qayrawan hospital in Tunisia.
•A system of fountain-cooled air was devised for the comfort of patients suffering from fever.
•Avicenna described the contamination of the body by "foreign bodies" prior to infection, and Ibn Khatima also described how "minute bodies" enter the body and cause disease—well in advance of Pasteur's discovery of microbes.
•Al Razi was the first to describe smallpox and measles . He was accurate to such a degree that nothing has been added since.
•Avicenna described tuberculosis as being a communicable disease.
•Avicenna devised the concept of anesthetics. The Arabs developed a "soporific sponge," (impregnated with aromatics and narcotics and held under the patient's nose), which preceded modern anesthesia.
•The Arab surgeon, Al Zahrawi was the first to describe hemophilia.
•Al Zahrawi was also the first surgeon in history to use cotton, which is an Arabic word, as surgical dressings for the control of hemorrhage.
•Avicenna accurately described surgical treatment of cancer , saying that the excision must be radical and remove all diseased tissue, including amputation and the removal of veins running in the direction of the tumor. He also recommended cautery of the area if needed. This observation is relevant even today.
•Avicenna, Al Razi, and others formed a medical association for the purpose of holding conferences so that the latest developments and advancements in the field of medicine could be debated and passed on to others.
Unani method of treatment
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Similar to Greek humoral theory, unani-tibbi considers the whole human being, spiritual, emotional, and physical. Basic to the theory is the concept of the "four humors." These are Dum (blood), Bulghum (phlegm), Sufra (yellow bile), and Sauda (black bile). Each is further categorized as being hot and moist (blood), cold and moist (phlegm), hot and dry (yellow bile), and cold and dry (black bile). Every individual has his/her own unique profile of humors, which must be maintained in harmony to preserve health. If the body becomes weak, and this harmony is disrupted, a physician can be called upon to help restore the balance.
This restoration may be done using correct diet and nutrition and/or the unani-tibbi system of botanical therapy, cupping , bleeding, manipulation, and massage, among others, as treatments for all disease and ailments. Herbs or substances used to treat a patient will be matched to his humor type.
Unani-tibbi employs a detailed system of diagnosis, including observation of urine and stools, palpation of the body and pulse, and observation of the skin and eyes in pharmacotherapy therapy drugs of natural origin are used. They may be of plant, animal or mineral origin. Single drugs as well as compound formulations in the form of Safuf (Powder), Haboob (Pills) and Qurs (Tablets), Kushtajat (Oxides), Sharbat (Syrups) and Majun, Itrefal and Khamirajat (Semi solids) are used in the treatment of various complex and chronic disorders Surgery is the fourth line of treatment.

Advantages of Unani over Allopathic:

The Western Medical Model and the natural healing paradigm which embraces herbalism and other holistic healing modalities have very different philosophical roots -- so different that there's almost no possibility of one side understanding the other without undertaking a significant paradigm shift, these differences represent some major advantages of herbs and herbalism over pharmaceuticals and Western Medicine. World health organistion W.H.O has also recognized the efficiency of Unani- Tibbi method of treatment .

Allopathic Medicine - Basic underlying philosophy: that the human body must be controlled, dominated, coerced.
Unani treatment - Basic underlying philosophy: that the human body knows how to heal itself when harmony and balance are restored and when given the right ingredients.
Allopathic Medicine - Primarily suppresses symptoms
Unani treatment - Symptoms are understood as the body's attempts to regain balance

Allopathic medicine - Few actual cures and aside from vaccines not that good at prevention
Unani treatment - The body cures itself when given sufficient support and assisted back into balance and very strong at preventive health

Allopathic medicine - Excels at heroic measures and diagnosis (well, some diagnoses)
Unani treatment - Can provide support for heroic measures but excels at helping the body achieve the balance needed for its healing

Allopathic medicine - Extensive reliance on pharmaceuticals, which are harsh chemicals with side effects which can include anything from what appear to be mere annoyances (e.g. persistent cough, nausea, headaches) to horrible possibilities such as organ failure (e.g., kidney, liver) or even death

Unani treatment - Safe when used properly, except in extremely rare cases of allergies, undiagnosed underlying problems, or in some herb-drug interactions

Allopathic medicine - Does not support life so much as it fears death
Unani treatment - Supports life through aiding and assisting the body to heal itself, but also understands that death is an inevitable part of the life cycle .
Thus it is seen that despite the dramatic advances of conventional medicine, or biomedicine as it is also known, it is clear that herbal medicine has much to offer. Today, herbal remedies have revived again and are gaining favor in the masses. The public has lost faith in conventional medicines such as antibiotics and cortisones due to their serious, even fatal, side-effects. Herbal medicine often complements conventional treatments, providing safe, well-tolerated remedies for chronic illness. It is experiencing a dramatic renaissance in Western countries, partly because no effective conventional treatment as yet exists for such chronic illnesses such as asthma, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome and sexual dysfunctions. In addition, concern over the side effects of conventional medicine is encouraging people to look for more gentle and effective forms of treatment.