Talk:Iranian traditional medicine

Clarification needed Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) vs. Unani
What is the difference between Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) and Unani? These articles seem to have some similarities and share history. Jooojay (talk) 20:45, 23 August 2019 (UTC)


 * Yunani has greek origins, ITM does not. I'd say that is a pretty clear distinction. I fail to see any similarity between Yunani humor and Iranian mizaj beyond just the number 4.
 * There is indeed a table in the article for Humorism which seems to equate humors and mizaj, but I think it's a shallow comparison. I would argue most of the people who know about ITM or even subscribe to it, don't think of mizaj in terms of fire, air, earth, water, blood, flegm, bile, or any other greek/western idea.
 * As for shared history, Yunani again has greek origins, and according to the article was mostly practiced in India and Pakistan, so again nothing in common with Iranian traditional medicine.
 * Regarding ibn. Sina or other polymaths who lived in the region at the time and knew about or wrote about multiple systems of medicine, of course they would be naturally tempted to find common patterns between the systems to get to some sort of deeper truth of medicine. However this again does not make them the same theory. BarZamSr (talk) 08:59, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

Current or Historical Medical System?
The great bulk of the references are from a single professor at one Iranian medical school. The article does not make it clear whether he is describing a historical system, or the practice of present-day professionals in Iran. Is Iranian Traditional Medicine taught nowadays in a way comparable to Unani Medicine (or Tibb) in the South Asian countries and South Africa? NRPanikker (talk) 19:36, 30 October 2021 (UTC)


 * As a person who grew up in Iran, I can say with confidence that it is not taught or practiced by any serious medical professional.
 * However, a person who prefers the cold might convey this information by telling you that they are a cold person (i.e. they have cold mizaj). Or a person eating a fish-based meal might be told (in casual conversation, not as medical advice) to avoid yoghurt as a side dish or desert because both of those are cold foods (i.e. they have cold mizaj) and might cause sleepyness or a literal feeling of coldness.
 * Generally the older generation tend to pay more thought to traditional medicine, as is likely the norm in any culture.
 * Regarding the limited sources of the article, I agree that it's unfortunate, but it's still vastly preferable to archive this information somewhere. BarZamSr (talk) 09:05, 14 January 2023 (UTC)