AVICENNA’S DOCTRINE ABOUT ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Abstract

Arterial hypertension is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. Data from observational studies indicate that it may affect 90% of the general population during their lifetime. Despite much research that has been done, the exact cause of this disorder is still unknown. Avicenna (Ibn Sina) in his masterpiece The Canon of Medicine described most of the clinical features, causes, and complications which are consistent with hypertension symptoms based on modern medicine. He described in detail the symptoms of hypertension such as headache, heaviness in the head, sluggish movements, general redness and warm to touch feel of the body, prominent, distended and tense veins, fullness of the pulse, distension of the skin, coloured and dense urine, loss of appetite, weak eye sight, impairment of thinking, yawning, and drowsiness. Moreover, Avicenna described haemorrhage and sudden death as the complications of hypertension. Due to the importance of this issue, we wanted to call the reader’s attention to Avicenna’s views about what corresponds to hypertension in modern medicine.