Practice versus theory: tenth-century case histories from the Islamic Middle East

Tags:

• Eye Diseases
• History, Medieval
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Medicine
• Middle East
• Philosophy, Medical
• Practice Management, Medical

Notes:

• Medicine and disease in medieval Islam have thus far been approached through theoretic medical treatises, on the assumption that learned medical texts are a transparent account of reality. A question yet to be sufficiently explored is the extent to which the ideas and theoretical principles they contain were actually carried out in practice. This paper deals with the description of diseases occurring in a tenth-century Casebook (Kitab al-Tajarib) by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya’ al-Razi (known to Europeans as Rhazes)-the largest and oldest collection of case histories, so far as is known, in medieval Islamic medical literature. Since the author was a prolific medical writer, this study also includes a review of his medical and therapeutic principles dealing with eye diseases, as described in his learned treatises, and a comparison with those therapies actually employed in his everyday practice, as exemplified by the Casebook. The comparative analysis shows that the medical knowledge and the therapeutic advice so meticulously described in theoretical works were not paralleled in the physician’s medical performance. On the contrary, it appears that learned treatises served other purposes than determining medical practice.

Historical perspectives on health. Early Arabic medicine

Tags:

• Arab World
• History of Nursing
• History, Ancient
• Hospitals
• Humans
• Medicine, Arabic
• Medicine, Traditional

Notes:

• The Arabian conquests during and after the 7th century led to a spread of Islam as well as the consequential influence of theology on health through the teachings of the Qur’an (Koran). Although traditional medicine was widely accepted and used, the character of early aggrandisement of Arabic medicine involved a facility for adapting and absorbing Graeco-Roman knowledge. The translation schools and libraries, famous in both the East and West, preserved and expanded the knowledge acquired. European academic learning owed much to the Arabs. Information came through Spain to Italy, France and, later on, England. The founding of hospitals, whilst not an Arab initiative, received a fillip from the religious prescriptions for care of the sick. The Military Orders developed specialist institutions for the sick, probably as a result of what they saw during their sojourn in the Middle East. The legacy of Arabic medical care is still with us today and deserves understanding and greater appreciation.

How Islam changed medicine: Al-Nafis, Servetus, and Colombo

Tags:

• Blood Circulation
• History, 16th Century
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Medicine, Arabic
• Pulmonary Medicine

The professional ethics of medieval pharmacists in the Islamic world

Tags:

• Ethics, Professional
• History, Medieval
• ISLAM
• Pharmacy

Notes:

• Most work on Islamic medical ethics has been in relation to the physician, yet physicians are only one category of many health-related professionals. In view of its role as mediator between the layman and medication, pharmacy is of perhaps equal importance. In medieval Islam, there seems to have been a clear differentiation between the physician and the pharmacist. However, most of our sources reflect the physician’s point of view. A text which uniquely reflects that of the pharmacist is the thirteenth-century Minhaj al-dukkan by al-Kuhin al-’Attar of Cairo. A comparison between the ethical contents of this book, and of similar works aimed at physicians, can indicate what the differences and similarities were between the “good physician” and the “good pharmacist.” Interestingly, the language used to define the “go od” professional is religiously neutral--there is nothing to evince a particular identity, beyond a general monotheism, on the part of the writers.

Psychiatric therapy and pharmacology in medieval Islam

Tags:

• History, Medieval
• ISLAM
• Pharmacology
• Psychiatry
• Religion and Medicine

Notes:

• Although psychiatric therapy and pharmacology in Medieval Islam are based on the ancient Greek tradition, the original Arabic contribution in the introduction and employment of new substances is undeniable. Another important aspect which received a decisive impetus by Arab physicians was the concept of psychical therapy.

A tribute to Zakariya Razi (865 - 925 AD), an Iranian pioneer scholar

Tags:

• History, Ancient
• Humans
• Iran
• Male
• Measles
• Philosophy, Medical
• Smallpox

Notes:

• The resurgence of Islamic Civilization in the Near East in the 7th century AD and its expansion to Persian Empire and Westward provided opportunities of access Persian, Hellenic, and Roman writings in philosophy and medicine. Based on their observations and experiences, Islamic physician-philosophers expanded upon those writings and at times challenged them. Among these physician-philosophers admiring and challenging Galen was Zakariya Razi described as the greatest physician of Islam and Medieval Ages. A search of electronic and written materials about early Islamic Medicine was carried out focusing on Persian physician-philosophers Zakariya Razi. Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi, known in the West as Rhazes, was born in 865 AD in the ancient city of Rey, Near Tehran. A musician during his youth he became an alchemist. He discovered alcohol and sulfuric acid. He classified substances as plants, organic, and inorganic. At age 30, he undertook the study of medicine. He was a prolific writer with more than 184 texts in medicine attributed to him with 40 of them currently available. Among them are Kitab al-Mansoori, Kitab al-Hawi, and Kitab al -Judari wa al-Hasabah. The latter is the first scientific description for the recognition and differentiation of smallpox and measles. The Bulletin of the World Health Organization of May 1970 pays tribute to Razi by stating “His writings on smallpox and measles show originality and accuracy, and his essay on infectious diseases was the first scientific treatise on the subject”. Razi established qualifications and ethical standards for the practice of medicine. Zakariya Razi was not only one of the most important Persian physician-philosophers of his era, but for centuries his writings became fundamental teaching texts in European medical schools. Some important aspects of his contributions to medicine are reviewed.

Mental health and psychiatry in the Middle East: historical development

Tags:

• Arab World
• Attitude to Health
• Health Services Needs and Demand
• History, 15th Century
• History, 16th Century
• History, 17th Century
• History, 18th Century
• History, 19th Century
• History, 20th Century
• History, 21st Century
• History, Ancient
• History, Medieval
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Medicine, Arabic
• mental health
• Mental Health Services
• Middle East
• Philosophy
• Psychiatry
• Religion and Medicine
• Religion and Psychology

Notes:

• A brief account is given of attitudes towards mental health and the development of psychiatry in the Middle East from an historical perspective. The Middle East is considered as a cultural entity and the influence of the beliefs and practices of ancient times on the collective mind of the people of the Region is discussed.

Egyptian contribution to the concept of mental health

Tags:

• Arab World
• Cultural Characteristics
• Egypt
• History, 20th Century
• History, 21st Century
• History, Ancient
• History, Medieval
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Medicine, Arabic
• mental health
• Mental Health Services
• Psychiatry

Notes:

• This paper provides an historical look at the Egyptian contribution to mental health from Pharaonic times through to the Islamic era and up to today. The current situation as regards mental health in Egypt is described.

Female patients and practitioners in medieval Islam

Tags:

• Female
• Gynecology
• History, Medieval
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Medicine in Literature
• Medicine, Arabic
• Obstetrics
• Physicians, Women
• Women's Health
• Women's Rights

Ibn Jazlah and his 11th century accounts (Taqwim al-abdan fi tadbir al-insan) of disease of the brain and spinal cord. Historical vignette

Tags:

• Books
• Brain Diseases
• History, Medieval
• Iraq
• Medicine, Arabic
• Spinal Cord Diseases

Notes:

• The 11th century was culturally and medicinally one of the most exciting periods in the history of Islam. Medicine of this day was influenced by the Greeks, Indians, Persians, Coptics, and Syriacs. One of the most prolific writers of this period was Ibn Jazlah, who resided in Baghdad in the district of Karkh. Ibn Jazlah made many important observations regarding diseases of the brain and spinal cord. These contributions and a review of the life and times of this early Muslim physician are presented.

Anatomy of the eye from the view of Ibn Al-Haitham (965-1039). The founder of modern optics

Tags:

• Egypt
• History, Medieval
• Humans
• Medicine, Arabic
• Ophthalmology
• Optics and Photonics
• Reference Books, Medical

Notes:

• Ibn Al-Haitham (known as Alhazen in Latin [965 Basra, Iraq-1039, Cairo, Egypt]) was a scientist who played an important role in the middle age Islam world. He wrote many books and novels, but only 90 of them are known. His main book Kitab al-Manazir was translated into Western languages in the late twelfth century, and in the early thirteenth century. In this book, he formulated many hypotheses on optical science. The book, which is also known as Optic treasure (opticae thesaurus), affected many famous Western scientists. He became an authority until the seventeenth century in the Eastern and Western countries. Roger Bacon (1212-1294), who made radical changes in the Western optical traditions, reconfirmed Ibn Al-Haitham’s findings. Ibn al-Haitham began his book Kitab al-Manazir with the anatomy and physiology of the eye. He specifically described cornea, humor aqueous, lens, and corpus vitreum. He examined the effect of light on seeing. He caused changes in the prevailing ideas of his age, and suggested that light came from objects, not from the eye. He provided information regarding the optic nerve, retina, iris, and conjunctiva. He showed the system of the eye as a dioptric, and the relations between the parts of the eye. It is understood that he mastered all knowledge on the structure of the eye in his century. The best proof of this is the eye picture that he drew.

How Islam changed medicine: Ibn Sina (Avicenna) saw medicine and surgery as one

Tags:

• General Surgery
• History, 19th Century
• History, Medieval
• ISLAM
• Medicine, Arabic