MENSTRUAL BLEEDING THROUGH THE AGES: FROM MEDIEVAL TEXTS TO CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22159/prl.ijayush.vi.2546Keywords:
Istifrāgh, Khūn-i-Ḥayḍ, Medieval period, Menstrual blood, Unani MedicineAbstract
During the medieval period, in Greco-Arabic medicine, menstrual blood was conceptualised as a physiological evacuative discharge through which the body maintains internal balance; Contemporary medicine explains menstruation primarily as the cyclical shedding of the functional endometrial layer following hormonal withdrawal.
Greco-Arabic medicine conceptualises Khūn-i-Ḥayḍ (menstrual blood) as Faḍlah al-Dam (waste products of the blood) eliminated through Istifrāgh (evacuation) under the action of Ṭabīʿat (medicatrix naturae) to maintain humoral equilibrium. However, comprehensive comparisons of these perspectives remain limited.
This narrative review examines the classical Greco-Arabic concept of Khūn-i-Ḥayḍ and explores its understanding across different eras and in relation to contemporary understanding of menstrual physiology and disorders. Relevant information was gathered from authoritative sources, including the works of Rabban al-Ṭabarī, Al-Rāzī, Al-Majūsī, Ibn Sīnā, and Jurjānī, as well as recent scientific literature on the physiology of menstrual bleeding.
The review highlights that Greco-Arabic scholars described menstrual blood as a physiological discharge with important reproductive and diagnostic significance, rather than as elimination of impure blood. Classical descriptions address its formation, regulation and physiological role through the concepts of Ṭabīʿat, Akhlāṭ, and Mizāj, as well as disorders such as Iḥtibās al-Ḥayḍ (menstrual retention), Kasrat al-Ḥayḍ (excessive menstrual bleeding), and Istiḥāḍah (abnormal uterine bleeding). Contemporary medicine similarly recognises menstrual patterns as clinically informative, although their mechanisms are explained through hormonal, structural, inflammatory and haemostatic processes.
Integrating classical Greco-Arabic concepts with contemporary reproductive science may provide a useful framework for a better understanding of menstrual bleeding and encourage further interdisciplinary research in the women's healthcare system.
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