ADVANCED PARENTAL AGE AND ITS IMPACT ON PROGENY HEALTH: CORRELATING THE UNANI CONCEPTS WITH MODERN SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

Abstract

Advanced parental age is an important concern in reproductive medicine due to the global trend towards delayed parenthood. Increasing parental age is associated with reduced fertility, adverse reproductive outcomes, and health problems in offspring. Modern research links these effects to changes in gamete quality, chromosomal instability, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired DNA repair, and genetic mutations. Unani medicine provides a complementary perspective through the doctrine of Quwā (faculties). It includes Quwwat Muwallida (generative faculty), Quwwat Mughayyira (transformative faculty), Quwwat Muṣawwira (formative faculty), and Quwwat Māsika (retentive faculty). These faculties regulate the formation of Manī (semen), embryogenesis, and foetal development. This review aimed to explore the effects of advanced parental age on reproductive outcomes and offspring health. It correlates age-related changes in Ruṭūbat-i-Gharīziyya, Ḥarārat-i-Gharīziyya, Mizāj, and Quwā with current evidence from reproductive biology and genetics. A narrative review was conducted using Unani literature and modern biomedical research. Classical concepts were extracted from Al-Qānūn fi’l-Ṭibb, Kāmil al-Ṣināʿah al-Ṭibbiyyah, Kitāb al-Kulliyāt, Dhakhīrah Khwārazm Shāhī, and other standard references. Modern evidence was obtained from peer-reviewed studies on reproductive aging, reproductive genetics, molecular biology, and epidemiology.  Unani literature describes a decline in Ruṭūbat-i-Gharīziyya and Ḥarārat i-Gharīziyya with age. This shifts Mizāj towards Bārid Yābis and weakens reproductive faculties. Modern evidence shows reduced ovarian reserve and poor oocyte quality with advanced maternal age. Advanced paternal age is linked with declining semen quality, DNA damage, de novo mutations, and developmental disorders in offspring. These findings show a close conceptual relationship between Unani principles and modern reproductive biology.