Management of Primary Hypertension by Al-Hijamah

The present day health system focuses more on diagnostics, less on treatment and least on prevention. The escalating costs of diagnostic tests and interventions have made today’s health care out of reach for common man. There is a lot of loud thinking in the west and it has rightly scaled down from evidence centric approach to patient centric approach. Al Hijamah (Cupping Therapy) is an important tool for treatment of various diseases. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Al-Hijamah on Zaghtudam Qawi Ibtedae (Primary Hypertension). This study was a randomized open standard controlled study done on 50 patients. Male Patients of age group 20-60 years were randomly allocated in two groups comprising 30 and 20 patients in test and control groups respectively. Patients with primary mild to moderate hypertension ranging from systolic pressure 140 to 159 mm Hg and diastolic pressure 90 to 109 mm Hg were enrolled. In test group, Al Kahil (the interscapular region excluding vertebral column) of the patient was selected for application of Hijamah and the procedure was performed on four consecutive days. In control group, one tablet of 25 mg Atenolol was given orally once daily. Subjective parameters viz. headache, dizziness, fatigue, palpitation, breathlessness and loss of libido were evaluated in each follow up. Significant improvement was observed in SBP and DBP in the test group. Inter group comparison shows p<0.001significant w. r. t to control group. No side effect is observed in the test group.