The middle ages contributions to cardiovascular medicine

Abstract The historical period called the Middle Ages, a long interval between the 5th and the 15th centuries, is still commonly known as the Dark Ages, especially in the area of health sciences. In the last decades, this "classic" view of the Middle Ages has been gradually modified with advances in historiographical studies and the history of science. During that period in Western Europe, knowledge about the human body suffered a regression in terms of anatomy and physiology, with the predominance of religious conceptions mainly about diseases and their treatments. Knowledge on the cardiovascular system and heart diseases has been classically described as a repetition of the concepts developed by Galen from the dissection of animals and his keen sense of observation. However, the Middle East, especially Persia, was the birth place of a lot of intellectuals who preserved the ancient knowledge of the Greeks while building new knowledge and practices, especially from the 8th to the 13th century. The invasion of the Arabs in North of Africa and the Iberian Peninsula and the eclosion of the Crusades resulted in a greater contact between the East and the West, which in turn brought on the arrival of the Arab medical knowledge, among others, to 12th century Europe. Such fact contributed to an extremely important change in the scientific medical knowledge in the West, leading to the incorporation of different concepts and practices in the field of cardiovascular Medicine. The new way of teaching and practicing Medicine of the great Arab doctors, together with the teaching hospitals and foundations in the Koran, transformed the Medicine practiced in Europe definitely. The objective of this paper is to describe the knowledge drawn up from the Middle Ages about the cardiovascular system, its understanding and therapeutic approach to cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons.

Contributions of Muhadhdhab Al-Deen Al-Baghdadi to the progress of medicine and urology. A study and translations from his book Al-Mukhtar

This study of the Arabic 4-volume book of Al-Mukhtar Fi Al-Tibb [Choice Book on Medicine] written by the Muslim physician Muhadhdhab Al-Deen Al-Baghdadi [515-610 H, 1117-1213 AD] aimed at evaluating his contributions to the progress of medicine and urology along with providing English translations of relevant excerpts. Al-Baghdadi laid emphasis on the morals of medical practice and the principles of medical education describing how to select medical students and how to evaluate graduates. He stressed on the need for a long training program directly supervised by skilled expert doctors both in hospitals [Al-Bimaristanat] and during home visits. A good part of volume 1 was allocated to preventive medicine and the whole of volume 2 was devoted to the pharmacy section, which he restricted to what was proven by the experience of his teacher and by his own experiments. Same as all his predecessors in the Islamic era, Al-Baghdadi stressed the importance of clinical medicine and gave more details related to history taking, physical examination, differential diagnosis and prognosis. Similar to them, he also, emphasized that a doctor should be quite knowledgeable in anatomy. Furthermore, the presence of anatomical drawings in Kitab Al-Mukhtar Fi Al-Tibb is a further step forward in illustrating medical text books; a trend that flourished in the Islamic era reflecting the role of direct observations and experience. The detailed description of the functional anatomy of the uretero-vesical junction and the antireflux and micturition mechanisms given by Al-Baghdadi is contrary to that of Galen [130-200 AD] but conforms well to our contemporary understanding. In the conservative management of urinary stones, he described 70 simple and 13 compound drugs while those described by Pulus of Aegina [625-690 AD] were only 20 simple and 3 compound drugs. Furthermore, Al-Baghdadi's description of the instruments and techniques of urethral catheterization, perineal cystolithotomy and perineal cystolithotripsy using Al-Zahrawi's lithotrite is meticulous and reveals originality, dexterity and experience

Cancer in ancient Iranian medical books

In medical history of different nations, there are numerous documents concerning cancer. The present study is an investigation in ancient books to determine the part that Iranian medicine has played in the recognition of cancer. 30 Iranian medical books mostly from 3rd to 13th centuries A.H. in a library search study were examined. The findings showed that cancer in ancient medical books of Iran has been categorized under [swellings] and classified as [solid tumor] and [cold swelling]. Like other diseases, the etiology of cancer has been related to four humours. Also the role of nutrition in cancer development has not been neglected. Concerning clinical manifestations, it has been discussed that cancer in early stages lacks clinical manifestations but with its progression gradually its symptoms and signs appear. Cancer was found to be more common in women and the most common organs involved were indicated as breast and uterus in women and pharynx, larynx, gut and genitalia in men. Cancer outbreak was reported in autumn. To differentiate cancer from other swellings, it has been recommended that all swellings must be viewed using clinical and physical examination. Concerning the prognosis of cancer, there was an agreement on its poor prognosis but some factors were considered important. Concerning the treatment of cancer, it was believed that although there is no complete cure, the treatment of cancer [medical management, surgery, diet] should be considered in its early stages. The findings from this study indicate that in ancient Iranian medical books cancer has been thoroughly investigated from different perspectives, some of which still have maintained their scientific merits

Contributions of Ibn Zuhr [Avenzoar] to the progress of surgery: a study and translations from his book Al -Taisir

This study of the original Arabic edition of the book Al-Taisir Fil-Mudawat Wal-Tadbeer [Book of Simplification Concerning Therapeutics and Diet] written by the Muslim physician Abu-Marwan Abdel-Malik Ibn Zuhr [Avenzoar, 1093-1162 AD] aimed at evaluating his contributions to the progress of surgery and providing English translations of relevant excerpts. Ibn Zuhr s unique experiment performing a tracheotomy on a goat, proved the safety of this operation in humans and represented a further step in the development of the experimental school started by Al-Razi [Rhazes] of Baghdad in the ninth century who is known to have given monkeys doses of mercury to test it as a drug for human use. Ibn Zuhr also performed post mortems on sheep in the course of his clinical research on treatment of ulcerating diseases of the lungs. Same as all his predecessors in the Islamic Era, he stressed the importance of a practical and sound knowledge of anatomy for surgical trainees. Furthermore, Ibn Zuhr insisted on a well supervised and structured training program for the surgeon-to-be, before allowing him to operate independently. He also drew the red lines at which a physician should stop, during his general management of a surgical condition; a step forward in the evolution of general surgery as a specialty of its own. He believed in prophylaxis against urinary stone disease and reported the importance of dietary management for that purpose. Furthermore, Ibn Zuhr enriched surgical and medical knowledge by describing many diseases and treatment innovations not ever described before him

Anatomy in medieval Arab history

Anatomy was not an independent science, but every medical book began with a description of the human body and its functions. Studying anatomy was essential for every student, [of medicine] because it was questioned in every examination. Arab and Islamic physicians learnt that the Greek anatomy was deficient and not complete; they began to discover mistakes and failures which they corrected, and added information as well as new discoveries. I studied three medical books, Urndat al-islah fi sinaat al-jarrah short AI-Umdah by lbn al Quff from the 13th century. lbn al nafis-arab Galen, 13th century. Al kulliat, by lbn Rushd [averros] 11th century. 1- Islam doesn't prohibit body dissection. 2-Moslem physicians have practiced some dissection. 3- there has been new discoveries that were impor tant to the development of medicine in the following period. 4- the standard of anatomy science was equal to the general standard of science at that time

Glimpses of Islamic medicine.

The fall of the Roman Empire during the fifth century A.D. Ushered in the beginning of the Dark Ages. After this, in Europe further progress of Greco-Roman medicine originated from Hippocrates was halted. The ideas about medicine and hygiene were kept alive in monasteries only. The Arabs made advances in medicine at a time when the rest of Europe was in the Dark Ages. Islamic system or the rulers of the day actively encouraged scholarship and growth of knowledge. The Islamic gift of the day to the world of medicine was simply unique.

La medicina en el medioevo arabe / Medicine in the arabic middle age

El autor presenta un relato histórico y pormenorizado de la Medicina árabe en la Edad Media. En esta revisión bibliográfica se pretende analizar los hechos históricos y médicos acaecidos entre el siglo VII y el XV, es decir, los casi 700 años, en que los árabes marcaron un hito en la Cultura Ecuménica del Oriente, y que luego se proyectó como un gran faro intelectual sobre el Occidente Cristiano. Revisamos así, a los mayores representantes de la medicina: Rhazes y Avicena, Al-Farabi y Maimónides, que formaron la Cultura Arabe junto a Persas, Anadaluces, Judíos y Cristianos