[Hedayat al-Motealemin fi Teb: the oldest medical treatise in the Persian language]

"Hedayat al-Motealemin fi Teb", written by Abobakr Ebn Ahmad Akhaveini in the Fourth century, [AH] is his only book left to the present time. From historical prospective, it is, by far, the first medicine book written in Farsi. Today, there are only three copies of the book kept in Badlyan libraries of Oxford, Fateh library of Istanbul and Malek library of Tehran. The reviews done on the three copies assert that the Bodlyan version is the oldest version and the closest one to the original book. From linguistic point of view, the book, containing a lot of information in fields of writing and orthography, verifies the power of Persian language in that era to fully fulfill the needs for writing a comprehensive medical text. Since the scientific aspect of this precious medical book has not been fully investigated, a review of the book will not only show the high status of Akheveini in medical history but also provide novel information on Akhaveini's therapeutic methods, leading to the studies which help to invent new complementary treatment methods in medicine. In this study, we will review the book, taking linguistic viewpoints and the texture of the book into account. This is followed by discussing the bibliography of the three copies, and finding their differences. Finally, after illustrating the scientific features of the book, we provide some evidence, witnessing the status of this book in the history of medical sciences

[Evaluation and reconstruction of Alzahrawi's puncturing instruments]

Abu al-Qasim Khalaf Ibn-e-Abbas Zahrawi [936-1013 A.D.], known as Albucasis in west, was one of the greatest physicians in the Islamic world. To many historians, he was considered as the father of modern surgery. His book, Al-Tasrif, e.g., written in 30 chapters, was, in fact, a medical encyclopedia of that era. It was used as one of the main references in medical academic centers for centuries. The 30th chapter of this weighty book was dedicated to surgery. In this chapter, Zahrawidescribed many surgical procedures and introduced about 200 instruments invented for those procedures. In addition to drawing some of the instruments, he explained their size, shape, and application, as well. In the second section of this chapter, named "surgery and instruments", he explained about the functions of various surgical instruments, used for spliting, piercing and phlebotomizing, including Gamaneh, surgical blade, Makhda', Nishtar and experiment rod, all of which were available for the surgeon to choose from as needed. The aim of this study, was to describe, design and evaluate the functional quality of a hypothetical module of the instrument "experiment rod", used for piercing, as presented in Al-Tasrif

[Avicenna's views on bone fractures in canon of medicine]

The human knowledge on orthopedics traces back to dawn of the medical history. During the history of medicine, several scholars including Persian scientists investigated orthopedics and contributed to its flowering. Abu Ali al-Hussain ibn Abdullah ibn-Sina is a great Persian physician whose opinions on various aspects of medicine, including the science of orthopedics, are so remarkable. In this paper, we will review Avicenna's viewpoints and recommendations for diagnosis, care and treatment of different bones fractures which can be representative of the early knowledge on orthopedics in Persia

[Al-Akhawayni, an influencial contributor to medieval Persian science of neurology]

Al-Akhawayni Bukhari [?-983 AD], great 10th century Persian physician, in his extant book entitled Hidayat[Guide] discussed different aspects of some neurologic diseases that include prevention, clinical findings, treatment, and sometimes prognosis. Without doubt, Al-Akhawayni's knowledge on neurology, in addition to his familiarity to the works of his predecessors is obviously indebted to his experimental approach to medicine. These features resulted in providing a number of innovations. Another evidence is that, Al-Akhawayniwas known as insane's physician during his lifetime as a doctor. Therefore, it seems to be essential that this physician's only surviving book is evaluated with more emphasis, and Al-Akhawayni is being introduced to the modern world of science

[Design and performance evaluation of dry cupping tools described in the book Al-Tasreef]

Dry cupping is one of the main procedures in many traditional medicine systems all around the world with its root in antiquity. Traditional method of dry cupping is depended on practitioner proficiency and can lead to skin burn if the practitioner is a beginner. On the other hand, Zahrawi [11th century AD], the Muslim physician from Andulus [current Spain] presented two novel forms of cup for cupping to improve and correct cupping problems. In this regards, based on the model described in Al-Tasreef, we tried to redesign and manufacture the tools. These tools were made from galvanized iron owing to its nonconductivity of heat. Zahrawi models were compared with traditional model [with the same material and size] by negative pressure of mercury as well as qualitative test performed by a traditional practitioner. The results showed the superiority of Zahrawi's models [9792Pa and 10200Pa] over the traditional model, displaying a better and more stable vacuum pressure [mean: 8704 Pa with variation in repeat the test]. Furthermore, the introduced models are user friendly; i.e., every practitioner, even the beginner without specialized skill, may work with them easily. Therefore, the new model is suggested for dry cupping

[ effect of Jundishapur School on Baghdad Medical School]

One of the great schools of medical knowledge that had been the light of the past to the future is Jundishapur School. We sought to introduce just a little of this magnificent persian civilization in this study. The aim of this study was reviewing the effect of Jundishapur medical school and hospital on Baghdad medical school and hospital. Effectiveness of this great scientific center at that time was so much that transmission of its culture to the center of islamic caliphate in Baghdad, leaded to prosperity and excellence of Baghdad school

Monthly menstrual cycle in Bun-Dahisn, an ancient Persian Manuscript

The history of Persia [Iran] dates back 10,000 years. Iranian history prior to the introduction of Islam in 637 AD is classified as ancient Persia but unfortunately, very little written evidence remains from that period. Furthermore, there is little current investigative research on this period of Iranian history, so it remains largely unclear, particularly in the case of medical scientific thought. The last period of this era was the Sassanid dynasty [224-637 AD]. Some of the manuscripts remained from this period are written in the Pahlavic language, illuminating this dark period in the history of medical science. One of these ancient Pahlavic manuscripts is entitled "Bun-Dahisn". It is analyzed in this paper to uncover ancient Persian wisdom on the female monthly menstrual cycle. The book is fundamentally about genesis and creation rather than medicine, but it holds valuable information about attitudes of the time to the female menstrual cycle. The manuscript describes the female menstrual cycle in terms of three phases. The first of which is the Pes-abest, phase of the female reproductive cycle; Abast, refers to the second phase; and the third phase is termed Dastan and refers to the menstrual period itself. This is the principle concept conveyed in this manuscript, which can be related to current concepts of gynecology. However, in comparison with other ancient civilizations, it can be considered as a novel and advanced theory. Regarding this ancient text from a current perspective and in relation to modern knowledge in the field is an insightful way to track the progression of thought in gynecology

[Women's medical rights in ancient Persia]

Nowadays and throughout the history, medical rights and ethics were among the most important subjects in relation with the field of medicine. Women's medical rights including issues about sickness, sex, abortion and so on are among main branches of medical ethics. It should be stated that this matter was not investigated sufficiently about ancient Persia [since the beginning of historical period to 638 AD] up to this time. Therefore women's medical rights were studied in this research using remained ancient Iranian and non-Iranian manuscripts and also recent works conducted on this topic. Finally, the results of our survey on women's medical rights were presented, as follows: 1- Women's situation in ancient Persian society and their beliefs about this. 2- Medical laws about pregnancy and pregnant women. 3- Sexual issues. 4- Women's sickness and their rights and laws related to this issue. Although, some laws were strict and unacceptable as good ones, ancient Persian society had notable laws about women and their rights compared with contemporaries

Medicine and economy in ancient Persia

The relation between economy and medicine had a long history since ancient times. Supplying [providing] health care and the required drugs and medical equipments were the main concerns of the human communities even when they were at rather primitive stages of civilization. Later, in developed civilizations, trade was added to the concepts of medical economy. In this study, various economic activities, ranging from the physicians' income to the export and import of medicines in one of the old civilizations, ancient Persia [from the beginning of the history to 637AD], are discussed. In these eras, it is found that patients, based on their social and economic levels, had to pay the physician fees for the office visit. The governments, in turn, tried to prepare free medical facilities such as free-of-charge hospitals for patients. On the other hand, physicians had high earning and important statues in the society. The trade of medicine was another important economic in ancient Persia. Ancient Persia was actively involved in importing and exporting different articles, including medicines. The findings of the study showed a close relationship between medicine and economy in the ancient Persia as witnessed by the social and governmental policies