Medicine In The Islamic Empire

Document 5 states, “When Europeans learned that Muslims had preserved important medical texts, they wanted to translate the texts into Latin… Throughout this process, European medical schools gained access to vital reference sources...” Muslims preserved medical texts; this created a basis of a foundation of modern day medicine. The preservation of medicine allowed for other people to better it; resulting in advanced cures for different diseases. This advancement benefited others, European schools, in their development.

In 18th century America, medicine was in a transition mode. While some pre-modern practices were still around, the 18th century saw the beginnings of a new modern medical practice. Replacing the passed down wisdom from the ancient world was clinical observation, the first American medical school, and experimental science, along with many physicians beginning to replace midwives. During the 18th century, a transition from pre-modern practices and theories to modern medical practice occurred because of medical education and the growth of hospitals, advances in medical procedures, and different types of medical practitioners.

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

Medieval medicine was rooted in Ancient Greek practices. In 65 A.D., a Greek writer, Discorides, wrote a book, Material Medica. The book is about medical use of over five-hundred different plants. The book is translated into Hebrew and Arabic. Doctors in the Early Modern Era knew very little, and they used plants as the most important care and/or treatment. Due to unsanitary places and tools, many different diseases spread around Europe. Life was challenging during the Early Modern Era because of many diseases(Alchin). During the 1500s- 1600s, diseases overtook many people because doctors knew little, medicine was unknown, and there were many causes.

In the translation of the Islamic medical book, World History: Patterns of Interaction, the excerpt provided displays the large extent to which Muslims knew of medical procedures and diseases. “European medical schools gained access to vital reference sources such as al-Razi’s Comprehensive Book and Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine. Ibn Sina’s five-volume encyclopedia guided doctors of Europe and Southwest Asia for six centuries” (Doc 3). This quote explains the large amount of credible sources Muslims utilized in order to obtain their medical knowledge. Unfortunately, other cultures did not have these resources, making Muslim contributions some of the best in the world. As mentioned in the first example, World History: Patterns of Interaction, includes numerical data pertaining to medical tools and procedures. “For nearly 500 years, al Qasim’s work, The Method, which contained original drawings of some 200 medical tools, was the foremost textbook on surgery in Europe” (Doc 3). With all the knowledge of medical procedures and tools, the Islamic culture by default was the most medically advanced in the world. Also, Islam’s contributions to world culture caused western civilization to advance in medicine while simultaneously increasing the average life

Ibn Sina, a century later, was a philosopher and doctor who would travel from area to area progressing medicines and trading new technologies. Ibn Sina was educated quickly and developed interests in Greek culture as well as medicine. His interest in medicine helped him gain position in life, he had healed a royal and was thus given control of an entire library, greatly advancing his knowledge. He eventually began travels and looking at the ideas of Neoplatonism. He travelled and wrote about his changing views of God and man, medicinal remedies and changes, and eventually was imprisoned for some of his

In the Canon of Medicine, Avicenna describes 760 simple and compound drugs, their usage, and their composition, furthering elaborating on Galen’s study concerning humoral pathology. It is comprised of five parts. The first book covers the four elements known at the time (fire, water, earth, and air) as well as the basics of anatomy. The second book contains information regarding cause and symptoms of an illness. The third book covers hygienic practices health and sickness, as well as the inevitability of death. The fourth book delves into classification of illness, while the fifth describes the various types of compound drugs. The Canon of Medicine remained a reliable source to acquire medical information for centuries; in some parts of India, Unani medicine is practiced. Unani medicine is based on the works of Greek philosophers; Avicenna refined this form of Islamic medicine, and it is still implemented today, proving that Avicenna’s influence has extended until the present

Medicine was an important part of the Muslim world; both rich and poor people were interested in health and diseases. In fact, one of the greatest contributions to the Muslim world to modern medicine is the preservation of many of the original works of philosophers, poets and physicians. Subsequently, Muslim doctor and scholars wrote about health and developed an extensive complex medical literature. Unlike medical literature today, which is specialized, but in the medieval world amalgamated amongst natural science, astrology, alchemy, religion, philosophy and mathematics are medical literature (Nordqvist, 2012).

Considering the idea that history is a continuum the comparison and the contrast of events and research in Babylonian medicine and Muslim medicine are analogous. There are trends related to health and medicine that seem to be comparable in both cultures, like the writings left behind from both cultures that provided us with information about the development of medicine in both the Babylonian and Muslim cultures. For example, the Bible, Hamarabi's code, Edwin's Smith Papyrus, and Ebers Papyrus are a few of the most important writing in the Babylonian culture. Nonetheless, in the Muslim culture the canon on medicine and dentistry in the writings of Moses Maimonides are all writings that have provided us with a perspective view of medicine in

6:39). They also understood the importance of first quarantining and then treating illness and disease within an institution, the equivalent of today’s hospital. These Muslim institutions had distinct wards for patients suffering from different diseases, as well as for those suffering from mental illness. Their studies of the human anatomy were extremely sophisticated, so much so that they would remain in use for well over 600 hundred years. “Muslim scientists were especially intrigued by light, lenses, and the physiology of the human eye” (THTV, 2010, marker. 7:41). Ibm Al-haytham was the father of optics and credited for producing the first treatise in which he explained how the eye sees. Also, it was his work in the field of optics that eventually led to the invention of the modern camera. Amazingly, Muslim physicians were performing cataract surgery 1,000 years before the West adopted such a

Dating back to 3000 BCE the invention of writing began in Egypt. This invention marked Egypt as the beginning of medicine due to their ability to record their findings and knowledge. While Egyptians thought gods demons and spirits played a key role in causing diseases they provide us the first look of the art of healing that we have come to call medical care. Most of the knowledge we know about medicine is all thanks to the numerous papyruses found in archaeological searches. One papyrus that impacted the medical field is the Edwin Smith papyrus, which dates back to as early as 3000 BC. Imhotep, a physician to King Djoser, lived in about 2600 BC and thought of as the father of medicine. It is believed that Imhotep was the author of the Edwin

Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, a Muslim doctor during the Middle Ages, is often known as the father of surgery. Think of any field of medicine, and he likely did something that changed how we treat patients today. Stitches can be any sort of material that can close a patient up, but

According to Bowles and Kaplan, “however, when patients are given a placebo and told that it is a powerful drug, they often experience a healing effect” (Bowles and Kaplan, 2012, pg. 1). Islamic medicine was known for helping with infectious disease. Arabic doctors were known for performing surgery. There were Islam pharmacies that provided medicine.

The Muslims made much significant advancement in the medical field. The rulers of the Muslim Empire encouraged this research in the medical field. They wanted people who knew about diseases and medical procedures treating them were they were ill. This made the Muslims much more advanced and knowledgeable in medicine than other parts of the world. In fact, Muslim cities boasted some of the best hospitals in the world. One reason they were so efficient is that doctors and pharmacists were required to complete a specific course of study and pass a formal examination before being able o practice medicine. However, this knowledge was not exclusive to the Muslim Empire, but rather it was translated into Latin and was used in European schools. The spread of this knowledge made Europe significantly more knowledgeable regarding diseases and medical procedures than they were prior to them receiving this information. In addition to advancements in the medical field, other scientific advancements were made. The created the practice of the experiment as well as a method of classification into three distinct categories: animal, vegetable, or mineral.

Some will argue that literature is more important because Sufi poets wrote about loyalty to God, they also wrote about their emotions, and faith. However, that point is not important because without good health care most of us would be dead because of the medications we would’ve take. One of the greatest innovation that Muslims brought to the world is health. Skilled Muslim doctors performed difficult operations, including Cancer and Brain surgeries to improve our health. In the book “My World History textbook” “Avicenna, a Persian Physician, wrote many books on medicine, philosophy, and other topics. Avicenna’s most famous work was on a book that covered every disease and treatment known”. Also the text states that “there was separate areas of hospitals aside for different diseases. They also had pharmacies where medicine was prepared.”