Mohd Tarique

Bars (Vitiligo) is a disease that was observed very early in history and most ancient civilizations and religions had some references about lack of pigmentation. The knowledge on aetiopathology of Bars is ambiguous and the treatment is very difficult till date. Wide range of literature is available in classical Unani system of medicine. Keeping in view, this review is focused on the aetiopathology and treatment of bars.

Bars (Vitiligo) is the oldest and commonest skin disorders affecting approximately 0.1% to 2% of the world’s population, and its prevalence is varying from 0.46% to 8.8 % in India. The disease shows no regard to the cultural, ethnic or socioeconomic background of the affected population. The cosmetic impact of this disease is huge and psychological impact is devastating, particularly in coloured races. In Unani system of medicine Majoon Atrilaal and local application of Sheetraj and Nila Tootiya have been used for the management of Bars since centuries, but the efficacy has yet to be proven on scientific parameters. Observational single blinded study was carried out on 20 clinically diagnosed patients of Bars. They were treated with 10 gm of Majoon Atrilaal, orally twice daily and Sheetraj with Nila Tootiya applied locally once in the morning, for a period of three months. The subjective parameter (hypo pigmented patches) and objective parameter (VASI) were statistically analyzed by applying Student ‘t’ test (two tailed dependent) and paired proportion test. VASI (Vitiligo Area Scoring Index) showed significant difference P