Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

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This is a sub-article to Islamic science and Medicine.

In the history of medicine, Islamic medicine or Arabic medicine refers to medicine developed in the medieval Islamic civilisation.

Overview

File:Avicenna Persian Physician.jpg
Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), considered the father of modern medicine, introduced systematic experimentation and quantification into physiology, discovered the contagious nature of diseases, and described many medical treatments, including anesthetics and medical and therapeutic drugs, in The Canon of Medicine.

Islamic medicine was a genre of medical writing originally intended as an alternative to the Greek-based medical system. Many of its early authors were usually clerics, rather than physicians. They were known to have advocated the traditional medical practices of prophet Muhammad's time, such as those mentioned in the Qur'an and Hadith. For instance, therapy did not require a patient to undergo any surgical procedures at the time. From the 9th century, however, Muslim physicians made many of their own significant advances and contributions to the field of medicine, including the subjects of anatomy, microbiology, ophthalmology, pharmacology, pharmacy, physiology, surgery, and the pharmaceutical sciences.

Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine.[1] Islamic medicine was initially built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical knowledge developed in Persia, Greece, Rome, and India. Galen and Hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities, as well as the Indian physicians Sushruta and Charaka, and the Hellenistic scholars in Alexandria. Islamic scholars translated their voluminous writings from Greek and Sanskrit into Arabic and then produced new medical knowledge based on those texts.[2] In order to make the Greek and Indian traditions more accessible, understandable, and teachable, Islamic scholars ordered and made more systematic the vast and sometimes inconsistent Greco-Roman and Indian medical knowledge by writing encyclopedias and summaries.[1] It was through Arabic translations that the West learned of Hellenic medicine, including the works of Galen and Hippocrates. Of equal if not of greater influence in Western Europe were systematic and comprehensive works such as Abū Alī ibn Sīnā's The Canon of Medicine, which were translated into Latin and then disseminated in manuscript and printed form throughout Europe. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries alone, The Canon of Medicine was published more than thirty-five times.[1]

Hospitals

Muslim physicians set up some of the earliest dedicated hospitals. In the medieval Islamic world, hospitals were built in all major cities; in Cairo for example, the Qalawun Hospital could care for 8,000 patients, and a staff that included physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. One could also access a dispensary, and research facility that led to advances, which included the discovery of the contagious nature of diseases, and research into optics and the mechanisms of the eye. Muslim doctors were removing cataracts with hollow needles over 1000 years before Western physicians dared attempt such a task. Hospitals were built not only for the physically sick, but for the mentally sick also. One of the first ever psychiatric hospitals that cared for the mentally ill was built in Cairo. Hospitals later spread to Europe during the Crusades, inspired by the hospitals in the Middle East. The first hospital in Paris, Les Quinze-vingt, was founded by Louis IX after his return from the Crusade between 1254-1260.[3]

Hospitals in the Islamic world featured competency tests for doctors, drug purity regulations, nurses and interns, and advanced surgical procedures.[4]

Contributions

Al-Razi (Rhazes) wrote the Comprehensive Book of Medicine in the 9th century. The Large Comprehensive was the most sought after of all his compositions. In it, Rhazes recorded clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various diseases. The Comprehensive Book of Medicine, with its introduction of measles and smallpox, was very influential in Europe.

Al-Kindi was a renowned 9th century Arab doctor who wrote many books on the subject of medicine. His most important work in the field was De Gradibus, in which he demonstrated the application of mathematics to medicine, particularly in the field of pharmacology. This includes the development of a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of drugs, and a system that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient's illness, based on the phases of the Moon.[5]

Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis), regarded as the "father of modern surgery",[6] contributed greatly to the discipline of medical surgery with his Kitab al-Tasrif ("Book of Concessions"), a 30-volume medical encyclopedia published in 1000, which was later translated to Latin and used in European medical schools for centuries. He invented numerous surgical instruments, including the first instruments unique to women,[7] as well as the surgical uses of catgut and forceps, the ligature, surgical needle, scalpel, curette, retractor, surgical spoon, sound, surgical hook, surgical rod, and specula,[8] bone saw,[9] and plaster.[10]

Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), a Mu'tazili philosopher and doctor in the early 11th century, was another influential figure. He is regarded as the father of modern medicine,[11] and one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. His medical encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine (c. 1020), remained a standard textbook in Europe for centuries, up until the renewal of the Muslim tradition of scientific medicine. He also wrote The Book of Healing, another popular textbook in Europe. Among other things, Avicenna's contributions to medicine include the introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology,[12] the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases, the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, the introduction of clinical trials,[13] the first descriptions on bacteria and viral organisms,[14] the distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy, the contagious nature of phthisis and tuberculosis, the distribution of diseases by water and soil, and the first careful descriptions of skin troubles, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions, and nervous ailments,[3] as well the use of ice to treat fevers, and the separation of medicine from pharmacology, which was important to the development of the pharmaceutical sciences.[7]

Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) made important advances in eye surgery, and he studied and correctly explained the process of sight and visual perception for the first time in his Book of Optics, published in 1021.[7] Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī's Kitab-al-Saidana was an extensive medical encyclopedia which synthesized Islamic medicine with Indian medicine. His medical investigations included one of the earliest descriptions on Siamese twins.[15]

In 1242, Ibn al-Nafis was the first to describe human blood circulation and pulmonary circulation.[16] This discovery would be rediscovered, or perhaps merely demonstrated, by William Harvey in 1628, who was previously credited for this discovery in Western history. The Arab physician Ibn al-Lubudi (1210-1267), also from Damascus, wrote the Collection of discussions relative to fifty psychological and medical questions, in which he rejects the theory of four humours supported by Galen and Hippocrates, discovers that the body and its preservation depend exclusively upon blood, rejects Galen's idea that women can produce sperm, and discovers that the movement of arteries are not dependant upon the movement of the heart, that the heart is the first organ to form in a fetus' body (rather than the brain as claimed by Hippocrates), and that the bones forming the skull can grow into tumors. He also advises that in cases of extreme fever, a patient should not be released from hospital.[17]

During the Black Death bubonic plague in 14th century al-Andalus, Ibn Khatima and Ibn al-Khatib (1313-1374) discovered that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body.[18] In the 15th century, the Tashrih al-badan (Anatomy of the body) written by Mansur ibn Ilyas contained comprehensive diagrams of the body's structural, nervous and circulatory systems.[19]

Other medical innovations first introduced by Muslim physicians include the discovery of the immune system, the introduction of microbiology, the use of animal testing, and the combination of medicine with other sciences (including agriculture, botany, chemistry, and pharmacology),[7] as well as the first drugstores in Baghdad (754), the distinction between medicine and pharmacy in the 12th century, and the discovery of at least 2,000 medicinal substances.[20] Other medical advances came in the fields of pharmacology and pharmacy.[19]

Legacy

George Sarton, the father of the history of science, wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science:[3]

"Through their medical investigations they not merely widened the horizons of medicine, but enlarged humanistic concepts generally. [...] Thus it can hardly have been accidental that those researches should have led them that were inevitably beyond the reach of Greek masters. If it is regarded as symbolic that the most spectacular achievement of the mid-twentieth century is atomic fission and the nuclear bomb, likewise it would not seem fortuitous that the early Muslim's medical endeavor should have led to a discovery that was quite as revolutionary though possibly more beneficent."

"A philosophy of self-centredness, under whatever disguise, would be both incomprehensible and reprehensible to the Muslim mind. That mind was incapable of viewing man, whether in health or sickness as isolated from God, from fellow men, and from the world around him. It was probably inevitable that the Muslims should have discovered that disease need not be born within the patient himself but may reach from outside, in other words, that they should have been the first to establish clearly the existence of contagion."

"One of the most famous exponents of Muslim universalism and an eminent figure in Islamic learning was Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna (981-1037). For a thousand years he has retained his original renown as one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. His most important medical works are the Qanun (Canon) and a treatise on Cardiac drugs. The 'Qanun fi-l-Tibb' is an immense encyclopedia of medicine. It contains some of the most illuminating thoughts pertaining to distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy; contagious nature of phthisis; distribution of diseases by water and soil; careful description of skin troubles; of sexual diseases and perversions; of nervous ailments."

"We have reason to believe that when, during the crusades, Europe at last began to establish hospitals, they were inspired by the Arabs of near East.... The first hospital in Paris, Les Quinze-vingt, was founded by Louis IX after his return from the crusade 1254-1260."

An Arabic manuscript, dated 1200 CE, titled Anatomy of the Eye, authored by al-Mutadibih.

Fields

Ophthalmology

Main article: Ophthalmology in medieval Islam

Of all the branches of Islamic medicine, ophthalmology was one of the foremost. The specialized instruments used in their operations ran into scores. Innovations such as the “injection syringe”, a hollow needle, invented by Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul, which was used for the extraction by suction of soft cataracts were quite common.

Bacteriology

In order to find the most hygienic place to build a hospital, al-Razi (Rhazes) carried out an experiment where he hung pieces of meat in places throughout 10th century Baghdad and observed where the meat decomposed least quickly. He also wrote the first descriptions on smallpox and measles.

In The Canon of Medicine (1020), Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) stated that bodily secretion is contaminated by foul foreign earthly bodies before being infected.[18] He also discovered the contagious nature of infectious diseases such as phthisis and tuberculosis, the distribution of diseases by water and soil, and the existence of sexually transmitted diseases,[3] and he gave the first descriptions on bacteria and viral organisms (though he did not view them as primary causes of disease),[14] and introduced quarantine as a means of limiting the spread of contagious diseases.[13]

When the Black Death bubonic plague reached al-Andalus in the 14th century, Ibn Khatima discovered that infecious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body. Another 14th century Andalusian physician, Ibn al-Khatib (1313-1374), wrote a treatise called On the Plague, in which he stated:[18]

"The existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports. These facts constitute a sound argument. The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the aftlicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmission is affected through garments, vessels and earrings."

Medical ethics

One of the features in medieval Muslim hospitals that distinguished them from their contemporaries was their higher standards of medical ethics. Hospitals in the Islamic world treated patients of all religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds, while the hospitals themselves often employed staff from Christian, Jewish and other minority backgrounds. Muslim doctors and physicians were expected to have obligations towards their patients, regardless of their wealth or backgrounds. The ethical standards of Muslim physicians was first laid down in the 9th century by Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi, who wrote the Adab al-Tabib (Conduct of a Physician), the first treatist dedicated to medical ethics. He regarded physicians as "guardians of souls and bodies", and wrote twenty chapters on various topics related to medical ethics, including:[21]

On a professional level, al-Razi (Rhazes) introduced many practical, progressive, medical and psychological ideas in the 10th century. He attacked charlatans and fake doctors who roamed the cities and countryside selling their nostrums and 'cures'. At the same time, he warned that even highly educated doctors did not have the answers to all medical problems and could not cure all sicknesses or heal every disease, which was humanly speaking impossible. To become more useful in their services and truer to their calling, Razi advised practitioners to keep up with advanced knowledge by continually studying medical books and exposing themselves to new information. He made a distinction between curable and incurable diseases. Pertaining to the latter, he commented that in the case of advanced cases of cancer and leprosy the physician should not be blamed when he could not cure them. To add a humorous note, Razi felt great pity for physicians who took care for the well being of princes, nobility, and women, because they did not obey the doctor's orders to restrict their diet or get medical treatment, thus making it most difficult being their physician. He also wrote the following on medical ethics:

"The doctor's aim is to do good, even to our enemies, so much more to our friends, and my profession forbids us to do harm to our kindred, as it is instituted for the benefit and welfare of the human race, and God imposed on physicians the oath not to compose mortiferous remedies."[21]

Medical treatments

Anesthesia

Modern anesthesia was developed by Muslim anesthesiologists. They utilized oral as well as inhalant anesthetics. In Islamic Spain, Abu al-Qasim and Ibn Zuhr, among other Muslim surgeons, performed hundreds of surgeries under inhalant anesthesia with the use of narcotic-soaked sponges which were placed over the face. Muslim physicians also introduced the anesthetic value of opium derivatives during the Middle Ages. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) wrote about its medical uses in his works, which later incluenced the works of Paracelsus.[22]

Antiseptics

Al-Razi (10th century) used mercurial compounds as topical antiseptics. From the 10th century, Muslim physicians and surgeons were applying purified alcohol to wounds as an antiseptic agent. Surgeons in Islamic Spain utilized special methods for maintaining antisepsis prior to and during surgery. They also originated specific protocols for maintaining hygiene during the post-operative period. Their success rate was so high that dignitaries throughout Europe came to Córdoba, Spain, to be treated at what was comparably the "Mayo Clinic" of the Middle Ages.[22]

Medical and therapeutic drugs

Al-Razi, Avicenna, al-Kindi, Ibn Rushd, Abu al-Qasim, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Baytar, Ibn al-Jazzar, Ibn Juljul, Ibn al-Quff, Ibn an-Nafs, al-Biruni, Ibn Sahl and hundreds of other Muslim physicians developed drug therapy and medicinal drugs for the treatment of specific symptoms and diseases. The word "drug" is derived from Arabic[citation needed]. Their use of practical experience and careful observation was extensive.[22]

Chemotherapeutical drugs were first developed in the Muslim world. Muslim physicians used a variety of specific substances to destroy microbes. They applied sulfur topically specifically to kill the scabies mite.[22]

Medicinal alcohol

Numerous Muslim chemists produced medicinal-grade alcohol through distillation as early as the 10th century and manufactured on a large scale the first distillation devices for use in chemistry. They used alcohol as a solvent and antiseptic.[22]

Plaster

In 1000, Abu al-Qasim (Abucasis), the father of modern surgery, invented the modern plaster, which is still used in hospitals throughout the world.[10]

Smallpox vaccines

The medical procedure of inoculation was practiced in the medieval Islamic world, and was later followed by the first smallpox vaccine in the form of cowpox, invented in Turkey in the early 18th century.[9]

Tracheotomy

The surgical procedure of tracheotomy was invented by Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) in the 12th century.[23]

Surgical intstruments

Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), the father of modern surgery, performed surgeries under inhalant anesthesia, and invented the plaster and many surgical instruments.

In 1000, Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), considered the "father of modern surgery", in his influential Al-Tasrif (The Method of Medicine), introduced his famous collection of over 200 surgical instruments. Many of these instruments were never used before by any previous surgeons. Hamidan, for example, listed at least twenty six innovative surgical instruments that Abulcasis introduced. Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili is also notable for inventing the injection syringe.

Catgut

Abu al-Qasim's use of catgut for internal stitching is still practised in modern surgery. The catgut appears to be the only natural substance capable of dissolving and is acceptable by the body.

Forceps

In the Al-Tasrif (1000), Abu al-Qasim invented the forceps for extracting a dead fetus, as illustrated in the Al-Tasrif.[24]

Injection syringe

The Iraqi surgeon Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili invented the first injection syringe in the 9th century using a hollow glass tube and suction to extract and remove cataracts from patients' eyes.

Ligature

In the Al-Tasrif (1000), Abu al-Qasim introduced the use of ligature for the arteries in lieu of cauterization.

Surgical needle

The surgical needle was invented and described by Abu al-Qasim in his Al-Tasrif (1000).[23]

Other instruments

Other surgical instruments invented by Abu al-Qasim and first described in his Al-Tasrif (1000) include the scalpel, curette, retractor, surgical spoon, sound, surgical hook, surgical rod, and specula,[8] as well as the bone saw.[9]

Psychology

File:Rhazes.jpg
Al-Razi (Rhazes) made significant advances in psychiatry and wrote the earliest texts on psychotherapy, presenting definitions, symptoms, and treatments for problems related to mental health and mental illness. He also used mercurial compounds as topical antiseptics.

Mental health and mental illness

Islam stressed the need for individual understanding of their mental health. Those afflicted with a mental illness were thought to be possessed by jinn (genies), supernatural spirits that can be either good or bad. The Qur'an mentions the idea of the spirit or soul constantly, preaching the idea that only though radical change of one’s conception of the universe can one move closer to God. Unlike the Jewish conception of mental illness as sin, the Islamic viewpoint interpreted mental illness as a sign of supernatural intervention that was not necessarily malignant. Changes in the psyche could be either good or bad – the Sufi movement of Islam, for instance, teaches spirituality though near-mysticism, using song, dance, and narcotics to induce an altered mental state and a closer connection of God. This new attitude towards the mind, freeing mental illness from implications of wrongdoing, paved the way for a more scientific examination of the causes and symptoms of mental illness. The first such advances were made by Islamic scholars.

The Arab physician Al-Razi (Rhazes) wrote the landmark texts El-Mansuri and Al-Hawi in the 10th century, which presented definitions, symptoms, and treatments for many illness related to mental health and mental illness. He also ran the psychiatric ward of a Baghdad hospital. Such institutions could not exist in Europe at the time because of fear of demonic possessions. In the centuries to come, Islam would eventually serve as a critical waystation of knowledge for Renaissance Europe, through the Latin translations of many scientific Islamic texts.

Psychotherapy and psychiatry

In psychology, the Arab physician Al-Razi (Rhazes) was the first to study psychotherapy and made significant advances in psychiatry in his landmark texts El-Mansuri and Al-Hawi in the 10th century, which presented definitions, symptoms, and treatments for problems related to mental health and mental illness. He also ran the psychiatric ward of a Baghdad hospital. Such institutions could not exist in Europe at the time because of fear of demonic possessions.

Psychophysics and experimental psychology

Ibn al-Haytham is considered the founder of psychophysics and experimental psychology,[25] for his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception in the Book of Optics.[26] In Book III of the Book of Optics, Ibn al-Haytham was the first scientist to argue that vision occurs in the brain, rather than the eyes. He pointed out that personal experience has an affect on what people see and how they see, and that vision and perception are subjective. He explained possible errors in vision in detail, and as an example, describes how a small child with less experience may have more difficulty interpreting what he/she sees. He also gives an example of an adult that can make mistakes in vision because of how one's experience suggests that he/she is seeing one thing, when he/she is really seeing something else.[26]

Ibn al-Haytham was also the first to combine physics and psychology to form psychophysics, and his investigations and experiments on psychology and visual perception included sensation, variations in sensitivity, sensation of touch, perception of colours, perception of darkness, the psychological explanation of the moon illusion, and binocular vision.[25]

Aromatherapy

Steam distillation

Steam distillation was invented by Avicenna in the early 11th century for the purpose of producing essential oils.[27]

Essential oil

Essential oils were first produced by Avicenna in the early 11th century, using steam distillation, giving rise to aromatherapy. As a result, he is regarded as a pioneer of aromatherapy.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c National Library of Medicine digital archives.
  2. ^ Hakeem Abdul Hameed, Exchanges between India and Central Asia in the field of Medicine
  3. ^ a b c d George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science.
    (cf. Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq (1997), Quotations From Famous Historians of Science, Cyberistan.
  4. ^ Michael Woods, Islam, once at forefront of science, fell by wayside, Post-Gazette National Bureau, Sunday, April 11, 2004.
  5. ^ Felix Klein-Frank (2001), Al-Kindi, in Oliver Leaman and Hossein Nasr, History of Islamic Philosophy, p. 172. Routledge, London.
  6. ^ Martin-Araguz, A.; Bustamante-Martinez, C.; Fernandez-Armayor, Ajo V.; Moreno-Martinez, J. M. (2002). "Neuroscience in al-Andalus and its influence on medieval scholastic medicine", Revista de neurología 34 (9), p. 877-892.
  7. ^ a b c d Bashar Saad, Hassan Azaizeh, Omar Said (October 2005). "Tradition and Perspectives of Arab Herbal Medicine: A Review", Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2 (4), p. 475-479 [476]. Oxford University Press.
  8. ^ a b Khaled al-Hadidi (1978), "The Role of Muslem Scholars in Oto-rhino-Laryngology", The Egyptian Journal of O.R.L. 4 (1), p. 1-15. (cf. Ear, Nose and Throat Medical Practice in Muslim Heritage, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilization.)
  9. ^ a b c Paul Vallely, How Islamic Inventors Changed the World, The Independent, 11 March 2006.
  10. ^ a b Zafarul-Islam Khan, At The Threshhold Of A New Millennium – II, The Milli Gazette.
  11. ^ Cas Lek Cesk (1980). "The father of medicine, Avicenna, in our science and culture: Abu Ali ibn Sina (980-1037)", Becka J. 119 (1), p. 17-23.
  12. ^ Katharine Park (March 1990). "Avicenna in Renaissance Italy: The Canon and Medical Teaching in Italian Universities after 1500 by Nancy G. Siraisi", The Journal of Modern History 62 (1), p. 169-170.
  13. ^ a b David W. Tschanz, MSPH, PhD (August 2003). "Arab Roots of European Medicine", Heart Views 4 (2).
  14. ^ a b The Canon of Medicine, The American Institute of Unani Medicine, 2003.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zahoor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ S. A. Al-Dabbagh (1978). "Ibn Al-Nafis and the pulmonary circulation", The Lancet 1, p. 1148.
  17. ^ L. Leclerc (1876), Histoire de la medecine Arabe, vol. 2, p. 161, Paris.
    (cf. Salah Zaimeche, The Scholars of Aleppo: Al Mahassin, Al Urdi, Al-Lubudi, Al-Halabi, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation)
  18. ^ a b c Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D. (2002). "Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times", Journal of the Islamic Medical Association 2, p. 2-9.
  19. ^ a b H. R. Turner (1997), p. 136—138
  20. ^ S. Hadzovic (1997). "Pharmacy and the great contribution of Arab-Islamic science to its development", Med Arh. 51 (1-2), p. 47-50.
  21. ^ a b Islamic Science, the Scholar and Ethics, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.
  22. ^ a b c d e Dr. Kasem Ajram (1992). Miracle of Islamic Science, Appendix B. Knowledge House Publishers. ISBN 0911119434.
  23. ^ a b A. I. Makki. "Needles & Pins", AlShindagah 68, Januray-February 2006.
  24. ^ Ingrid Hehmeyer and Aliya Khan (2007). "Islam's forgotten contributions to medical science", Canadian Medical Association Journal 176 (10).
  25. ^ a b Omar Khaleefa (Summer 1999). "Who Is the Founder of Psychophysics and Experimental Psychology?", American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 16 (2).
  26. ^ a b Bradley Steffens (2006). Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, Chapter 5. Morgan Reynolds Publishing. ISBN 1599350246.
  27. ^ a b Marlene Ericksen (2000). Healing with Aromatherapy, p. 9. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0658003828.

Further reading

  • Browne, Edward G. (2002). Islamic Medicine. Goodword Books. ISBN 81-87570-19-9.
  • Dols, Michael W. (1984). Medieval Islamic Medicine: Ibn Ridwan's Treatise "On the Prevention of Bodily Ills in Egypt". Comparative Studies of Health Systems and Medical Care. University of California Press. ISBN 0520048369.
  • Pormann, Peter E. (2007). Medieval Islamic Medicine. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0748620664. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Porter, Roy (2001). The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521002524.
  • Ullmann, Manfred (1978). Islamic Medicine. Islamic Surveys. Vol. 11. ISBN 0852243251.

External links

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