036 037 To what extent was medicine revolutionised during the Islamic Golden Age Amro Elrayah Following the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, Europe was plunged into intellectual darkness. This period therefore became known as the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages was a time of little scientific and cultural advances, lasting up until the 10th century. However, during this period a new intellectual superpower emerged in 622. With this, it brought a wave of scientific and philosophical advances, most significantly to the field of medicine, up until the Siege of Baghdad in 1258, marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age. However, was medicine truly revolutionised during this period? Was it radically and fundamentally changed? David Levering Lewis, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, argued that there would be no renaissance, no scholastic movement without the contributions of the great Islamic scholars of the Golden Age. How accurate is this statement, however? Before formulating a judgement, healthcare and medicine during the early Medieval Ages must be explored. The focus during this period was to cure diseases, in a time when people were unaware of how to prevent the spread of germs. Therefore, little effort was put into finding out how the diseases were caused, as it was often believed that these diseases were caused by the supernatural. Thus, their cures included the use of magic stones and charms, the idea of driving out evil spirits (from people who were mentally ill) and herbal remedies, some of which are still used today, for example, coriander which can be used to reduce fevers. These were mostly carried out by monks and nuns in monasteries, where healthcare was provided for free. However, there were few advances in medicinal practices as the doctors were not allowed to heavily challenge the works of the Greek philosophers Hippocrates and Galen. Al-Razi, also referred to as Rhazes, is regarded as one of the greatest physicians of the Islamic Golden Age. Firstly, he played a pivotal role in the planning of the building of the first ever documented general hospital in Baghdad in 805 AD. Al-Razi realised that monasteries and homes were not suitable environments for the severely ill to be treated and thus he knew the importance of treating patients in an isolated environment where doctors could closely observe the patients’ conditions. He was also part of a movement that would fundamentally change, not only medicine, but science for millennia. The movement of empirical observation, experimentation and critical thinking. This involved carrying out rigorous experiments and procedures before putting out a claim. For example, before the first hospital was built, Al-Razi hung pieces of meat in different parts of the city to see which rotted the first. This helped him see which part of the city had the cleanest air, in which the hospital was built. Moreover, he wrote over 200 books that were translated into Latin and used across many universities in Europe, one of these books had the first description of the differences between the diseases “measles” and “smallpox”. Shortly after Al-Razi, another influential polymath emerged. A man known for building on Galen’s and Hippocrates’s works, and not simply copying them. A man by the name of Ibn Sina, or Avicenna. His most valuable contribution was “The Canon of Medicine”, a volume of 5 books compiled in 1025. This book drastically changed the ideas surrounding the anatomy, physiology, illnesses and treatments of the human body across the globe as it was translated into Latin, Mandarin, Hebrew, German, French and English. Thus, it continued to be used as the primary textbook in medical schools in both Europe and Asia up until the 17th century. However, his most significant contribution was the establishment of what is referred to as a holistic system. This is a system in which the “whole” patient is treated, taking social and mental factors into account, rather than just the symptoms of their illness. This proved to be a significantly more effective method of treating patients because the identification of the potential causes of the patients’ illnesses, reduced the likelihood that the patient contracted the same ailment again. Following Ibn Sina, another man, born in a small village outside of Damascus, bravely challenged Galen’s long-held description of pulmonary circulation. The Galenic concept of circulation stated that blood travelled from the right ventricle to the left ventricle via invisible pores in the septum, where it would mix with air to create “spirit”. However, Ibn Al-Nafis presented his description of pulmonary circulation- which later turned out to be the correct model. In his book, “Sharh Tashrih Al Qanun” (“Commentary on the Anatomy of the Canon of Medicine”), Ibn Al-Nafis stated that “there is no passage between these two cavities, the substance of the heart there being impermeable. It neither contains a visible passage, or as some people thought, nor does it contain an invisible passage which would permit the passage of blood, as Galen thought. The pores of the heart are compact and the substance of the heart is thick, it is passed into the arterial vein to the lung, in order to be dispersed inside the substance of the lung, and to mix with the air.”. This was a precursor to Wiliam Harvey’s more famous publication on pulmonary circulation more than 400 years later. To what extent was Medicin revolutionised during the Islamic Golden Age Following the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, Europe was plunged into intellectual darkness. T is peri d t refore became known as the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages was a time of little scientific and cultural advances, lasting up until the 10th century. How ver, during this period a new intellectual superpower emerged in 622. With this, it brought a wave of scientific and philosophical advances, most significantly to the field of medicine, up until the Siege of Baghdad in 1258, marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age. However, was medicine truly revolutionised during this period? Was it radically and fundamentally changed? David Levering Lewis, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, argued that there would be no renaissance, no scholastic movement without the contributions of the great Islamic scholars of the Golden Age. How accurate is this statement, however? Before formulating a judgement, healthcare and medicine during the early Medieval Ages must be explored. The focus during this period was to cure diseases. Therefore, little effort was put into finding out how the diseases were caused, as it was often believed that these diseases were caused by the supernatural. Thus, their cures included the use of magic stones and charms, the ide of driving out evil spirits from people who were mentally ill) and herbal r medies, some of which are still used today, for xample, coriander which can b used to r duce fevers. Therefor , people we unawar of ow to prev nt the sp ad of g rms. hese were mostly carried out by monks and nuns in mona teri s, where e lthc re was provided for free. However, there were few advances in medicinal practices as the d ctors were not allowed to heavily challenge the works of the Greek philosophers Hippocrates and Galen. Al-Razi, also referred to as Rhazes, is regarded as one of the greatest physicians of the Islamic Golden Age. Firstly, he played a pivotal role in the planning of the building of the Figure 1
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