Study on Clinical Assessment of Central Blood Pressure in Healthy Volunteers, and its Relation to Clinical Phenotyping

Life Sciences-Psychology for curing mental health

Abstract

The Unani system of Medicine is a holistic system of medicine and does not confine to molecular approach but refers to knowledge as a total recognition of the person and stresses on health of body, mind and soul. Unani medicine states that disease is a natural process and that symptoms are the reactions of the body to disease. The individual humoural balance is influenced by lifestyle factors. It employs the humoral theory which presupposes the presence of four akhlaat (humours) in the body – dam (blood), balgham (phlegm), safra (yellow bile) and sauda (black bile). The Unani philosophy has 4 humours under clinical  phenotyping  such  as  Sanguine  (Damavi),  Phlegmatic  (Balghami),  Bilious  (Safravi)  and  Melancholic  (Saudavi).  The  400 Healthy  volunteers  with 100 each  from  four different  temperaments  (balghami,  saudavi,  safravi,  damavi)  were  selected.The present study validates some of the Unani concepts of humours or temperament with central hemodynamic parameters or Pulse Wave Analysis (PWA). A specially designed case record form as per the Unani classical text was designed for assessment of humours and the information obtained were recorded from healthy volunteers as subjects and determination of central hemodynamic parameters was performed by SphygmoCor technology (AtCor Medical, Sydney, Australia). The temperament of the present study showed that the Pulse Wave Analysis in healthy volunteers although showed the results in physiological range but the analysis in safravi (bilious) subjects is found to be significant when compared to other clinical phenotypes.