Review article
https://doi.org/10.31952/amha.21.2.6
A Historical Overview of the Neurological Disorders Associated with Gastrointestinal Ailments from the Viewpoint of Avicenna
Majid Dadmehr
; Institute for Studies in Medical History, Persian and Complementary Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. / Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Farhad Seif
orcid.org/0000-0002-7032-8648
; Department of Immunology & Allergy, Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research, Tehran, Iran. / Neuroscience Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mohsen Bahrami
; Private Clinic, Tehran, Iran.
Frashad Amini-Behbahni
; Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Bagher Minaii Zangi
Chanour Tavakol
orcid.org/0000-0002-7032-8648
; Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Reviewing historical medical manuscripts shows that neurological disorders have been previously described in the Islamic Golden Age. Ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna (980-1037 AD), was one of the most renowned scientists during this period. He widely practiced medicine, especially those disorders related to neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry in conventionalmedicine. In his extant book al-Qānūn fī al-Tibb (the Canon of Medicine), he claimed that some types of brain diseases can be related to the “marāqq” and called them marāqq-related disorders. From Avicenna’s viewpoint, “marāqq” is considered a membranous structure in the abdomen. Ibn Sina has illustrated the association between the “marāqq” and the brain through some direct and indirect pathways. As a result, some disturbances in the “marāqq” can influence the brain, which can contribute to the pathogenesis of a number of brain diseases. Accordingly, those patients who regularly had gastrointestinal discomfortsexperienced a higher prevalence of headache, melancholia, and epilepsy. This study aimed to explore the relationship between abdominal and brain diseases from Avicenna’s viewpoint. Furthermore, the definition, clinical manifestation, and therapeutic strategies of marāqq-related disorders were described.
Keywords
medicine; Avicenna; marāqq; history of neurology; marāqq-related disorders
Hrčak ID:
313724
URI
Publication date:
31.1.2024.
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