Effect of Tareeq (Sweating) in Waja-ul-Mafasil (WM) of Samane Mufrat (Overweight/Obesity)—A Study

Abstract

Samane Mufrat (obesity) occurs due to decrease in hararate ghareezia (innate heat). It is a chronic and increasingly common disease characterized by excess body fat. It is more prevalent in women because of their barid mizaj (cold temperament). The shaham wa sameen (fats) are barid ratab (cold wet), so they accumulate in barid mizaj individuals. As body mass index (BMI) values increase, joint pain symptoms and severity increase. Joint pain may reflect the underlying pathological process of osteoarthritis (OA). For every 5 kg weight gain, there is a commensurate 36% increased risk for developing OA. A loss of 5–10% of body weight of obese has been shown to reduce health risk such as joint pain, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension and insulin resistance. In the present study, effects of tareeq (sweating) in obesity management were evaluated and relief in joint pain was recorded on arbitrary scale. It was an observational before and after treatment self-comparison study, which was conducted in the Regimenal Therapy Unit of National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) Hospital, Bangalore, India. A portable steam bath was used for tareeq for 30 min. The included subjects were assessed on the basis of change in subjective as well as objective parameters. The duration of study was three months. In the present study, 19 patients of joint pain with obesity were included. Patients with complaint of Waja-ul-Mafasil of varying grade were included. In the present study, 66.7% subjects were female belonging to 20 to > 60 years of age group. The joint pain was recorded before treatment and after the completion of protocol on arbitrarily scale. It was found that 57.89% subjects got relief in joint pain and 442.10% have no further development in pain.