نشریه تاریخ پزشکی
پیاپی 3 (تابستان 1389)

The history of tuberculosis, as a fatal disease, dates back to before 2000 BC In old civilizations, tuberculosis was a diagnosed illness one of its samples is Hamurabian Ac which data back to the civilization of Bein Al-Nahrein more than 2000 years ago. Previous physicians such as Hippocrates, Galen, Rhazes, Avicenna and other physicians in Egypt and China described the clinical picture of tuberculosis in their handwriting. However, its infective agent remained unknown until the last decades of 19th century, when Robert Koch discovered Then providing BC Vaccines, inventing Man to diagnostic test and appearance of anti-tuberculosis diseases caused much control over its prevalence. Despite significant advancements, tuberculosis was not totally eradicated like and is still a potential public health threat in developing countries. There are two difficulties to control it: It’s agent is very resistant against common medicine and appearance of such a disease in HIV-infected individuals. Presented here, is a brief review of the historical aspects of tuberculosis in the world and Iran, mainly during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Islamic-Iranian culture which not only save the legacy of Greece from extinction and brought order brought order to it and transformed it to Europe, but made the bases of many sciences which are owned to translations conduced by scientists such as Hanin Ibn Eshagh and Ibn Masouyeh. One of the fields of these sciences is the process of vision whose honor of development and completeness is for scientists in Islamic era especially Ibn Heisam. Knowledge, art of vision and ophthalmology were not so developed among the Roman and the Greek. Scientists of Islamic era took what they know in this regard and completed it in a limited framework but successfully. Also, one of the other discussions in the works of Islamic era was the focus on far sightedness and near sightedness which, the scientists believed, was a phenomenon entitled “the watching soul” and it went to the center of brain by a hollow neuron and came back again. Four basic factors caused far sightedness and near sightedness: The excess density of the watching soul, its excessive clarity, its decrease and increase. The author of the present article tried to have a look at the process of vision and to present it in a preliminary way in the works of Greek physicians and the process of its development in the works of Islamic era, intends to deal with the works of some scientists such as Ibn Heisam. Also, the feature of vision in far sightedness and near sightedness is among the discussions which was posed in Islamic era for the first time.

Among tribes and nations that in the field of medicine and human health have attempted and in the considerable achievements reached, original inhabitants of the Iranian Plateau Plays an important role and the leading nations considered to come. So that the residents of the Iranian plateau of the first surgeons should have been considered as those who think about people's health and tried to protect people's health. Having some ideologies Aryans believed that health is a feature of God and pollution and unsoundness as a feature of evil, dealt with therapy to fight against evil and for the benefit of Ahura followers. They were the first nations that rose up to try in the field of medicine and access to treatment and cure of disease and pain, and on their knowledge in this area adding with time passed and their products in the medical field and also through interactions with the time doctors in some countries, happy new achievements and innovations were presented to the world that day, They had tried a lot so that the first academic and medical centers were established in Iran , and the greatest physicians in the Islamic world (After the ancient world) that has emerged and were causing the boom in medicine were among the Iranians.

Studying the status of medicine in the categorization of Islamic sciences indicates high value of this field in Islamic theoricians’ views and those of Islamic scholars. If we have a look at its historical trace in pre-Islamic era, we will find out that all nationes with every culture and civilization have always paid a special attention to it and dedicated a specific status in categorizing sciences. The basic aim of this writing is to analyse collected encyclopedias in the glorious era of Islamic cultrure and civilization which include more than eight encyclopedias. Meanwhile, the author has a glance at the trace of writing encyclopedias across the history.

Jorjani was an influential Persian physician and anatomist of the 12th century who did most of his writing after his seventh decade of comprehensive textbook of medicine, zakhirey-e khwarazmshahi (The Treasure of the khwarazm Shah) was written in approximately considered to be the oldest medical encyclopedia written in Persian. This was an essential textbook for those studying medicine. We describe the life and times of jorjani and provide a translation and interpretations of his detailed descriptions of the cranial were written almost a millennium ago. Medieval Persian and Muslim scholars have contributed to our current knowledge of the cranial of these descriptions, such as the eloquent ones provided by jorjani, were original and have gone mostly unknown to post-Vesalian ars.

This scrip which is in connection with the previous article of this publication is a short introduction to some efforts made by Iranian to develop and improve public health and also urban sanitation according to historical documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this part, we presented a limited number of these documents containing instructions about necessity of applying a series of sanitarians efforts in the late Qajar Dynasty which imply the first official and governmental attempts in order for organizing the public health and the urban sanitation in Iran.

Abo Zeid Hanin Ibn Eshagh (260-194 A.H.) is one of the well-known and distinguished translators of Islamic era who knew Seryani, Greek and Arabic very well. He translated and compiled some books about medicine into Arabic. A book entitled “AL-masael fi Teb” is one of this scholar’s works. This books is an introduction to medicine and he presented some main points and details in it and these are actually basics and foundations of medicine. Hanin Started writing this book in Motevakel the kalif (247-232 A.H.) in Baghdad and wrote it based on Jalinos’ book in the framework of questions and answers. He Started the book with questions and answers about the details of medicine and divided medicine into two parts: theoretical and scientific. The purpose of writing such works is to study natural issues such as tastes and scientific medicine is defined as methods which a physician uses to treat the patient and to remove the diseases. The method which Hanin used in his book entitled “Al-masael”, is to transfer from main main points to details such as analogy which is like analogy to be based on the philosophers’ views of that era. It can be said that Hanin paid a special attention to the opinions and thoughts of the philosophers of his era. In presenting the chapters of his book, Hanin follows a logic which be came widespread in all scientific communities in Islamic world and his medical book follows philosophical principles. Furthermore, dividing medicine into theoretical and scientific parts echoes philosophers’ opinions. Ibn Abi Sadegh (date 459 A.H.) writes in the introduction of explanation of “Al-masael fi Teb”: “Hanin provided some notes during his life time about medicine and his nephew and his student, Hobeish Ib Hassan organized them and added some materials to them.” He believed that materials in the book entitled “Al-masael” were written by Hanin up to section Antitoxin (Padzahr) and other materials were added by Habish. (Al-masael fi Teb, preface from editor). Al-masael had a great benefit in familiarizing western physicians with Greek and Islamic medicine. Its latin translations were among the best selling publications in the west. These translations has been summarized in some cases. Translations by African Qostantin and Marqus Talitaliei have different titles; for example: Isagoge Iohannitii; Isagoge in artem Parvan Galeni; ysagoge Iohannicii and Tegni Galeni or liber introductorius in medicinam. (Sezgin, 2001, p.331). Henin compiled the book in 8 chapters: Chapter 1. Main issues in medicine; chapter 2. Science of diseases; chapter 3. causes of diseases; chapter 4. Causesand symptoms of diseases; chapter 5. science of therapy; chapter 6. Single and composed appetites; chapter 7. pulse; chapter 8. last part of medicine.

Ancient Iranian had used a variety of anesthetic agents from which Wine (Alcohol) alone or along with Hashish and also other herbal medicines had been considered for causing sleepiness, lethargy, numbness and anesthesia. Iranian ancient medical texts contained lots of evidences about familiarity of practitioners and scholars with anesthetics, drug components and the way of using them and reputation of the anesthetics and familiarity with them was also penetrated in literary expressions and speeches of the poets and scholars of this land. In the literatures of ancient Persia and also Iran after Islam, using anesthesia by kings, heroes, and rovers have been observed and it seems that the background of Iranian familiarity with anesthetic property of Hashish goes back to eras before Zoroaster and compilation of the Avesta and its annexes such as “Artay Viraf Namak” because some references to anesthetic in biography of Darius the Achaemenid can be seen. There had also been some evidences about using anesthetic in literature of other eastern nations including Indian, Arabs, Chinese and south-east Asians.