The Humours and The Time of the Day

This part of a series of posts, with the same rider: this is published here because of our interest in ancient greek medical theory.  We do not necessarily endorse the ideas. The “Unani” part of Unani Tibb Medicine, that is, the elements from Greek medicine that the Islamic doctors adopted as part of Islamic medicine, does give some background to the theories that held sway with, for example, Ibn Sina.

Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Studies in Ancient Medicine Edited by John Scarborough Philip J. van der Eijk Ann Ellis Hanson Joseph Ziegler write, 

“However, this variation of humours according to the hours is also attested in Vindician’s Letter to his young child Pentadius, which is a Latin translation of a Greek text similar to those collected here and which claims to go back to Hippocrates.”

“This letter presents both the theory of the four humours, varying according to the seasons and ages, and the theory of the four temperaments, but it adds that the humours vary also according to the hours of the day and night. I give here the extracts relevant to the comparison of the predominance of the humours according to the hour, and also the theory of the four temperaments.” 

“The body of man is composed of four humours. For he has in him blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm … 

“These four humours are divided amongst each other day and night. Blood dominates for six hours, i.e. after the ninth hour of the night until the third hour of the day; then yellow bile dominates after the third hour until the ninth hour. Black bile dominates after the ninth hour of the day until the third hour of the night. Phlegm dominates after the third hour of the night until the ninth hour of the night …”

“Moreover, these four humours give men the following characters:

1. Blood makes men well-intentioned, direct, moderate, attractive, of good humour (or full of moisture).

2. Yellow bile makes men quick-tempered, intelligent, shrewd, light-spirited, thin, they eat a lot and digest quickly.

3. Black bile makes men deceitful, angry, miserly, fearful, sombre, sleepy, jealous, and frequently having black scars on their feet.

4. Phlegm gives men well-formed bodies, stimulated, reflective, quickly growing white hairs on their head, much less bold.”

The customs of the soul

This part of a series of posts, with the same rider: this is published here because of our interest in ancient greek medical theory.  We do not necessarily endorse the ideas. The “Unani” part of Unani Tibb Medicine, that is, the elements from Greek medicine that the Islamic doctors adopted as part of Islamic medicine, does give some background to the theories that held sway with, for example, Ibn Sina.

Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Studies in Ancient Medicine Edited by John Scarborough Philip J. van der Eijk Ann Ellis Hanson Joseph Ziegler write, 

“The humours also determine the customs of the soul.

1. Blood makes the soul more joyous.

2. Yellow bile makes the soul quicker-tempered, bolder or more impudent, or both.

3. Phlegm makes the soul lazier and more foolish.

4. Black bile makes the soul quicker-tempered and cheekier.”

Types

This is published here because of our interest in ancient greek medical theory.  We do not necessarily endorse the ideas. The “Unani” part of Unani Tibb Medicine, that is, the elements from Greek medicine that the Islamic doctors adopted as part of Islamic medicine, does give some background to the theories that held sway with, for example, Ibn Sina.

Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Studies in Ancient Medicine Edited by John Scarborough Philip J. van der Eijk Ann Ellis Hanson Joseph Ziegler write, 

“The anonymous author presents the theory of the four temperaments in the form of a response to a question about differences between characters. 

How does it occur that amongst men, some are gracious, laugh and make jokes, others are sad, with a sombre air and doleful, others are quick-tempered, bitter and given to anger, others indolent, hesitant and pusillanimous? The cause is this, based on the elements: 

1. Those who are composed of very pure blood are always friendly, joke and laugh; regarding their bodies, they are rose-tinted, slightly red and have pretty skin. 

2. Those who are composed of yellow bile are quick-tempered, bitter, daring; regarding their bodies, they are greenish and have yellow skin.

3. Those who are composed of black bile are indolent, pusillanimous and sickly; regarding their bodies, they have black eyes and black hair.

4. Those who are composed of phlegm are despondent, forgetful; regarding their bodies, they have white hair.”

The theory of the four humours

Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Studies in Ancient Medicine Edited by John Scarborough Philip J. van der Eijk Ann Ellis Hanson Joseph Ziegler states, 

“The theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) first appears in a fifth-century bc Hippocratic treatise called The Nature of Man, the only treatise from the Hippocratic Corpus to which we can attribute an author’s name.”

“It is the work of Polybus, Hippocrates’ student and son-in-law. Here, we see for the first time a very clear expression of the idea that the nature of man consists of four humours, and that the properties of each of these correspond to each of the four seasons, each humour predominating in the season which shares the same nature: blood, hot and wet, predominates in spring; yellow bile, hot and dry, in summer; black bile, cold and dry, in autumn; and phlegm, cold and wet, in winter.”

“Good health is defined as the balance and mixture of the humours, whilst their imbalance and separation is the cause of disease. “

“To avoid this imbalance, the doctor recommends modifying one’s regimen according to the seasons. The predominance of the humours varies not only according to the seasons, but also according to age.” 

Maintaining Health

Ibn Sina in his Canon said, 

“Therefore we may say that the art of maintaining the health is not the art of averting death, or of averting extraneous injuries from the body; or of securing the utmost longevity possible to the human being. 

It is concerned with two other things:

1. The prevention of putrefactive breakdown; and

2. the safeguarding of innate moisture from too rapid dissipation, and maintaining it at such a degree of strength that the original type of constitution peculiar to the person shall not change even up to the last moment of life.

This is secured by a suitable regimen, namely

• one which will ensure the replacement of the innate heat and moisture which are dispersed from the body as exactly as possible; and

• a regimen which will prevent any agents which would lead to a rapid dessication from gaining the upper hand—excluding agents which produce a normal desiccation;

• one which safeguards the body from the development of putrefactive processes within it and from the influence of alien heat (whether extraneous or intrinsic).

For all bodies have not the same degree of innate moisture and innate heat. There is a great diversity in regard to them.

Sunnah Days December 2021

SUNNAH DATES IN DECEMBER 2021, in shaa Allah

Saudi Calendar

Tuesday 21 December 2021 - ends at sunset, 3.57pm

Thursday 23 December 2021 - ends at sunset, 3.58pm

Saturday 25 December 2021 - ends at sunset, 3.59pm

UK Moon-sighting - Maghreb

Wednesday 22 December 2021 - ends at sunset, 3.57pm

Friday 24 December 2021 - ends at sunset, 3.58pm

Sunday 26 December 2021 - ends at sunset, 4.00pm

Sunset marks the end of the day in the Islamic calendar.

SOURCE NOTES

Each month we publish the Sunnah Dates based on (1) the Umm al-Qura calendar and (2) the Moroccan Ministry of Awqaf announcements.

There are differences of opinion about the calendar and methods for sighting the new moon. We do not decide who is right nor impose one opinion over others. We simply offer a service to all members of the community whatever view they take about the matter.  And Allah knows best.

Plethora - Hypertension

Ibn Sina in his Canon said, 

“Speaking in general the signs of plethora of the first type are : 

Objective : red face ; full veins ; tightness of skin ; sluggish movements (gestures) ; full pulse. High-coloured urine ; dense urine ; scanty appetite. 

Subjective : sense of weight in the limbs ; weak vision ; dreams in which there is a sense of weight—as when one dreams one is unable to move, or is carrying a heavy weight, or cannot give utterance to words. This kind of dream may be compared with that associated with attenuation of humours, or where the humours are moderate in amount for here one dreams one is flying through the air, or moving at a great spee

The translator’s note is: “The modern term " hypertension" is covered by the old term of plethora or repletion. The correspondence is verified by some of its symptoms. Thus, hemorrhagic phenomena occur—in the nose, retina, cerebrum, meninges, labyrinth, the skin ; and as hematuria and hsemetemesis simulating organic disease. Hypertension causes fatigue of the heart shown by : dyspnoea, palpitation, quick pulse, anginal attacks, nocturnal pseudo-asthma, bruit de galop.”

Persuasion

Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Studies in Ancient Medicine Edited by John Scarborough Philip J. van der Eijk Ann Ellis Hanson Joseph Ziegler states,

“That a doctor from the fifth century needed to combine the art of persuasion and the art of healing is better understood if we account for the situation of a doctor in this period. In the absence of any regulation of the medical profession, the doctor had to compete constantly with his rivals both for his medical competence and his art of persuasion, whether this was before an audience limited to the entourage of patients during home visits, or before the larger public in a doctor’s surgery or, finally, before the peoples’ assembly. “

“The usefulness of the art of persuasion in a medical career is attested indirectly by a passage of Plato’s Gorgias: “Often,” Gorgias says to Socrates (456 b), “when I have accompanied my brother or some other doctor to see one of his patients who refused to drink a medicine or trust the doctor to operate on him with a knife or fire, whilst the doctor was not able to persuade him, I have succeeded in persuading him solely by the use of rhetoric.” "

Some signs of the temperament

Ibn Sina says,

“The state of the finger-nails should be noticed. Softness or dryness of the nails, not due to an extraneous agent, informs one of the state of the temperament.

These qualities are not in themselves a sufficient criterion. There must be signs of balance between heat and cold.

For (a) heat, by its resolving effect, would modify hardness and roughness of feel, and make the patient seem to be attempered and his nature seem soft and moist.

Or, (b) cold—i.e. the opposite—by reason of the great congelation and inspissation it induces, would make the softness of feel in an attempered person seem hard, and give the impression that his nature was dry. For instance, take snow and the sun. Snow congeals and causes coagulation ; the sun causes aggregation of particles. Many persons with a cold, temperament are soft to the feel, and also spare in habit owing to the presence of much crudity in them.”

Nutmeg

Hakim Chishti in “The Traditional Healer’s Handbook” writes

“Tibb Name: Juz al-tibb

Properties: Aromatic, stimulant, stomachic, narcotic, flavouring, condiment, increases gastric juice, digestion, appetite. Large doses, like camphor, act on cerebrum, causing stupor, delirium.

Uses: Rheumatism, hair tonic, flatulence, gastric debility, diarrhea, dystentery, vomiting, colic, dyspepsia, flavouring, condiments.

Quality: Hot and dry in the third degree.”

Sunnah Dates in May-June 2021

SUNNAH DATES IN MAY/JUNE 2021, in shaa Allah

UK- Europe - Saudi Arabia - North Africa

Saturday 29 May 2021

Monday 31 May 2021

Wednesday 2 June 2021

Sunset marks the end of the day in the Islamic calendar.

SOURCE NOTES

Each month we publish the Sunnah Dates based on (1) the Umm al-Qura calendar and (2) the Moroccan Ministry of Awqaf announcements.

There are differences of opinion about the calendar and methods for sighting the new moon. We do not decide who is right nor impose one opinion over others. We simply offer a service to all members of the community whatever view they take about the matter.  And Allah knows best.

Eggs in Unani Tibb Medicine

Ibn Qayyum in “The Prophetic Medicine” says,

“Fresh eggs are better than old eggs, and the best kind of eggs are chicken eggs. The eggs are mild but incline slightly towards being cold. ‘

[Quoting Ibn Sina] "The yolk is hot and wet and makes the blood sanitary, but is  not nutritious. It is In addition digested quickly when it is still soft." Another person said, "Egg yolk relives the pain, polishes the throat and the trachea, helps the throat and relieves coughing and the ulcers of the lungs, liver and prostate, It In addition eliminates coarseness, especially when blended with the grease of sweet almonds. It In addition maturates and softens whatever is in the chest and softens the roughness of the throat.’

“The author of the Qonoon [Ibn Sina] mentioned eggs in the medicines and remedies of the heart. He, in addition said, "Its yolk has a strong effect in strengthening the heart. Egg yolk has three beneficial uses: it turns into blood quickly, it does not produce extensive wastes, and the blood that it produces is light and similar to the blood that feeds the heart. Further, the egg yolk is the most adequate substance against the diseases that affect the essence of the soul."

Sunnah Dates in April-May 2021

Assalamu Alaykum and Ramadan Mubarak

SUNNAH DATES IN APRIL-MAY 2021, in shaa Allah

UK- Europe - Saudi Arabia

Thursday 29 April 2021

Saturday 1 May 2021

Monday 3 May 2021 (a Bank Holiday)

UK - Europe - North Africa

Friday 30 April 2021

Sunday 2 May 2021

Tuesday 4 May 2021

Sunset marks the end of the day in the Islamic calendar.

SOURCE NOTES

Each month we publish the Sunnah Dates based on (1) the Umm al-Qura calendar and (2) the Moroccan Ministry of Awqaf announcements.

There are differences of opinion about the calendar and methods for sighting the new moon. We do not decide who is right nor impose one opinion over others. We simply offer a service to all members of the community whatever view they take about the matter.  And Allah knows best.

Sunnah Dates March 2021

SUNNAH DATES IN MARCH 2021, in shaa Allah

UK - North Africa - Europe - Saudi Arabia

Monday 1 March 2021

Wednesday 3 March 2021

Friday 5 March 2021

*** The Islamic Day ends at Sunset ***

Cheese

Suyuti in his “Prophetic Medicine” said,

“Fresh cheese is cold & damp; dried cheese is hot & dry. Its excellence is moderate. Damp cheese is a very fattening food, but salted cheese makes one thin although it increases the sexual urge." 

SUNNAH DATES IN JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021, in shaa Allah

Saudi Arabia Calendar - UK

Saturday 30 January 2021

Monday 1 February 2021

Wednesday 3 February 2021

UK - North Africa - Europe

Sunday 31 January 2021

Tuesday 2 February 2021

Thursday 4 February 2021

Sunset marks the end of the day in the Islamic calendar.

SOURCE NOTES

Each month we publish the Sunnah Dates based on (1) the Umm al-Qura calendar and (2) the Moroccan Ministry of Awqaf announcements.

There are differences of opinion about the calendar and methods for sighting the new moon. We do not decide who is right nor impose one opinion over others. We simply offer a service to all members of the community whatever view they take about the matter.  And Allah knows best.

Chronobiology, the liver, circadian rhythms and position

A new January 2021 study by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausane in the field of chronobiology sees Western medicine finding the first steps on its way towards a concept known for many hundreds of years in the field of Chinese Medicine as to time and the organs of the body. And in Unani Tibb medicine regarding time and position of the liver.

The study found that, “many of the liver's genes seem to be both zonated and rhythmic, meaning that they are regulated by both their location in the liver and the time of the day. These dually regulated genes are mostly linked to key functions of the liver, e.g. the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, and amino acids,”

"The work reveals a richness of space-time gene expression dynamics of the liver, and shows how compartmentalization of liver function in both space and time is hallmark of metabolic activity in the mammalian liver,"

Hiccups

Normal hiccups are a temporary inconvenience.  Persistent Hiccups (2-30 days) are miserable. Alhamdulillah. Intractable Hiccups (30+ days) … I can’t imagine that.

I write this having had Persistent Hiccups for 7 days.

The hiccups stopped for periods of an hour, or two to four hours.  As soon as they do, that’s when I slept.  Whatever the time of day or night.  Otherwise, sleep deprivation will replace the hiccups as the major problem. Usually I was woken by the onset of hiccups or they start again as soon as I got out of bed. The hiccups were sometimes normal hiccups. But there were two other types of hiccups. One can be described as “hicc-up-up-up”. The other, the most unpleasant, was a hiccup but with a very clammy, sticky roof of the mouth with the tongue getting stuck to it. The hiccups seemed the most worse in the evening and best or disappeared around 2am.

Professional Status

Do not take any of the medical treatments set out here, except under the care of a professional.  For myself, as a qualified Hijama Practitioner, qualified Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Hakeem, I feel I’m safe ground with all of these treatments, except, of course, the western medicine and for that I defer completely to GPs and Consultants in the NHS and private practitioners.

Faith and Spiritual Practices

Stay connected with your current practice, whatever that is. It’s a time when you are forced to re-connect. And it is, therefore, a blessing.  Reach out. Ask for help. Submit. Especially at night, especially just before dawn. My personal mantra (it’s on my phone screensaver) is, “Allah is totally aware of my circumstances and He only wants the best for me.”

Cultivate your fighting spirit.  Martial arts mentality (if we fight, we might both get hurt, but it’s me who’s going to win), strength training (when the gyms reopen). Fight the fear (that it is never going to stop).

Support

It is very useful to have as much support and love from a partner, family and friends as you can.  Reach out. Ask for help.

Approaches

I am following western medicine protocols via Emergency GP services at the local hospital, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Unani-Tibb (Islamic Medicine), western herbal medicine, folk remedies and home remedies.

I have not yet done acupuncture – it’s difficult to do that on yourself for this particular condition (there are some points on the back) and the acupuncture clinics are just now reopening (as part of the Covid-19 lockdown re-opening rules). And by the time they went, there was no longer any need to make an appointment. I will now be getting a TCM diagnosis from one of my teachers at the College of Chinese Medicine and pursue acupuncture and herbal medicine as advised.

Treatments

These are the things that I did, with varying degrees of success.  My approach was to do a lot of things at once. Because it may be the combination of treatments is the solution.  Sometimes, there is no time to do things sequentially.  One needs to find a solution and then work back and eliminate what’s not part of the solution.

This list is not in any particular order but the more successful ones I have mentioned first (sort of, as things are evolving and changing). This list is not exhaustive.

• Fasting

• Intermittent Fasting - with warm water

• Hijama - wet cupping

• First line A&E medicines – immediate effect but heavy-duty side effects. Ask a lot of questions before giving consent. Some of the medicines are anti-psychotic drugs. It felt like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

• Second line Emergency GP medicines

• Oxymel – honey and vinegar mix

• Oxymel plus Blackseed Oil

• Shadow Boxing – mouth closed, elbows tucked in tight

• Chicken soup

• Ice cream *

• Straight back in prayer, standing, bowing and prostration

• Vagus nerve stimulation.  Qur’an, Dhikr, Wird, Dua, Ruqiya, Singing (in an appalling flat-toneless way)

• Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulas – combinations of Hai Feng Teng, Feng Fang, Huo Po, Ban Xia, Chen Pi, Shen Qu, Yu Yin, Bai Dou Kou, Da Huang

• Vaping with CBD oil

• Distractions - an absorbing film, an interesting conversation (my hiccups went for 2 hours after I started chatting with the paramedics about acupuncture for their bad backs), surprises (the garden parasol flying into next door’s garden).

• Drinking water from the wrong side of the glass ***

• Ice cold water *

• Literally, “a spoon full of sugar” **

• Rocking back and forth in fetal position

• Being rocked back and forth in a fetal position

• Standing on your head

• Sucking a lemon (then you get to make lemonade)

• Sunbath of kidneys

Notes

* My concern about the cold treatments is that they introduce a cold-dampness into the system and intuitively this is a cold-damp problem, rooted in a cold-damp type of constipation/wind imbalance. Here, I am using ‘wind’ in both the western sense and the Chinese Medicine sense. Indeed, the cold treatments seem to give some immediate relief but longer time were probably only exacerbating the problem.

** Normally, I would avoid sugar at all costs. The dampness and heat is problematic.

*** “I think hiccup cures were really invented for the amusement of the patient's friends.” Bill Watterson

Blood Production – Unani Tibb

Food is turned into chyme and chyle after being absorbed by the gastro-intestinal system.

The mesenteric vessels “ma’sareqa” and the portal vein branches “warid al-bab” transport the food from the gut to the liver for hepatic digestion. Chyle is converted into the four humours.

Unani Tibb maintains that the liver is the site of most metabolic functions.

Toothache – Unani Tibb

Toothache is “Waja ‘ al-Asnan”.  Its causes include one or more of

• Impairment of the hot temperament, gum inflammation

• Impairment of the cold temperament of the tooth and/or nerve.

• Inflammation of the blood temperament

• Phlegmatic gases

• Excess Yellow Bile

• Lack of oral hygiene

• Indigestion

• Gout

• Excessive use of sweet and sour foods,

• Pregnancy

• Accumulation of putrefied humours in the stomach.

Treatment, based on diagnosis, is usually with the opposite.