Temperament or Mizaj is referred to four different conditions differentiating individuals physically and mentally and as a result, proposing different preventive measures for their diseases or wellbeing.

Temperament of a person is mostly related to identifying the most proper lifestyle (diet, sleep, activity, psychiatric conditions, etc.) for health promotion. 

In the Iranian-Islamic traditional medicine the excess or less of warmness and humidity define four essential temperaments of “Warm and Wet (sanguine or Damawiy)”, “Warm and Dry (choleric or Safrawiy)”, “Cold and Dry (melancholic or Saudawiy)” and “Cold and Wet (phlegmatic or Balghamiy)” respectively. The terms in the parentheses refer to four groups of material in the body (called “humors” or 'Akhlat') including blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm respectively. Words written in italic show original Persian terms in the ancient literature. 

Choleric: warm and dry 

People with choleric temperament are usually tall and thin. They have a small frame, for instance, their fingers, lips, and other body parts are not much big and they are unlikely to get overweight. 

They have a dry and warm skin color with yellow and sometimes peachy undertone. 

They have rapid pulse, are exuberant, quickly finish what they are supposed to do -usually perfectly and carefully- and speak fast. 

People with warm and dry Mizaj mostly feel hot and have naturally high body temperature. 

Due to the dryness of their Mizaj they might suffer constipation and waste matter (urine, sweat, and feces) discharged from their bodies usually has strong odor and color. 

Burning in the anus and urinary tract can be common among this group. 

Due to the warmness in their body they soon digest food and as they don’t have adequate amount of nutrient supply to provide the energy needs of the body they soon get hungry and irritated if they don’t get enough food timely. 

Normally their mouth gets dry soon. 

Due to the warmness in their body which moves upward to the head their hair grow faster. They have coarse thick black hair. Premature graying and hair loss is prevalent among these people. 

As they’re able to think fast and act fast, they might lose concentration to some extent, in other words they may undertake multiple tasks at the same time and give up some of them halfway through them. Accordingly they might be pegged as hyperactive. 

They have keen senses and can easily notice the smallest changes in smells, voices, taste, color, etc. 

They are overly sensitive and will be easily upset or offended by events or things that people say and must be treated delicately. 

They don’t need much sleep and actually seem fine and ready for work with a little amount of sleep. They are not very sound sleepers and are prone to suffer stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation. 

They are idealist and fond of efficiency. They are also in favor of punctuality as well. Once they make an appointment they are always worried not to get there on time. 

In the next article the suitable lifestyle that fit people with choleric temperament will be explained in detail. 

Seyed Mahdi Mirghazanfari, MD, holds a PhD degree in medical physiology and is an Iranian-Islamic traditional medicine researcher. He is also an assistant professor in AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.

MQ/MG