title: Porosity and Health: Perspective of Traditional Persian Medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The authors of this manuscript aimed to show the importance of porosity and condensation in health according to traditional Persian medicine (TPM) with consideration of new evidence in conventional medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cardinal traditional medical and pharmacological texts were searched for the traditional terms of takhalkhol (porosity) and takassof (condensity) focused on preventive methods. The findings were classified and compared with new medical findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to traditional Persian medicine, porosity and condensity are the two crucial items that contribute to human health. Somatotype is a taxonomy based on embryonic development, which may be considered in parallel with porosity and condensation. However, these terms are not completely the same. There are many causes for acquired porosity comprising hot weather, too much intercourse, rage, starvation, and heavy exercises. In general, porosity increases the risk of diseases as it makes the body organs vulnerable to external hot and cold weather. On the other hand, the porose organs are more susceptible to accumulation of morbid matters because the cellular wastes cannot be evacuated in the normal way. There are some common points between traditional and conventional medicine in the context of porosity and condensity. The relation between diet and somatotype is an example.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Condensity and porosity are the two basic items cited in the TPM resources and contribute to health maintenance and disease prevention of body organs. Creating a balance between these two states in different body organs, strongly contributes to disease prevention, treatment and diminishing chronic diseases period. Choosing proper modality including diet, drug therapy, and manual therapy depends on the amount porosity and stiffness of the considered organ and the preferred porosity of the affected organ keeping in a normal healthy state.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Essence of Parsiyan Wisdom Institute, Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Plant Incubator, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tafazoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nimrouzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Daneshfard
keywords: Health; Medicine; Porosity; Traditional