 |
Home l Books l Hajj & Ummrah l Events l Lifestyle l Quran l Noticeboard l Site Map l About Us | |
 |
||
| Sat 25 May 2013 15 Rajab 1434 AH |
 |
|
|
Al-Razi on Hay Fever |
||||||||||
|
In the golden age
of Islamic civilization, Muslim scientists contributed to sciences
such as chemistry, biology, mathematics and medicine. Allergy
or sensitivity which is called a modern disease was original described
by one of the outstanding Iranian physicians nearly 1000 years
ago - Mohammed bin Zakariya
al-Razi. Al-Razi was born in 865 AD in Ray, south of Tehran, which is now a suburb of Tehran in Islamic Republic of Iran. He studied music, literature, philosophy and chemistry in the city of his birth and only studied medicine relatively late when he was 30 years old. He was asked to run a hospital in Ray and later on in Baghdad. He was renowned as an acute clinical observer. In this later years he became blind and died in 925 AD. Razi achieved fame in the later part of the first
millennium because of his authorship of the Alhawi Book, latinized
as Liber Continens as well as the ninth book of Ketab of Mansori,
latinized as Nonus Almansoris in which he specifically discusses
what we would now call clinical pathology. He also described smallpox
and measles in his treatise De variolis et Morbillus. His interest in what we now know as hay fever and catarrh was stimulated by the symptoms of his philosophy teacher, Abi-Zaid Ahmad bin Sahl Al-Balkhi, who suffered sinus pain and catarrhal inflammation every year during the `time of the flowering'. This report was not published separately but was mentioned by Ben Sharabeyun ben Ibrahim in his unique book Alfosool Al-Mohimah Fee Tib Al-Umah (Important Chapters in Public Medicine) (Figure 1). The report by Razi is the Codex Huntingdonianus 461 (foll. 78b3-80b8) in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The book Kitab Alfosool Al-Mohi-mah Fee Tib Al-Umah, (Important
Chapters in Public Medicine) is a compendium in 43 sections containing
extracts from al-Razi, Ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna, [folios
91a-118a], Rufus of Ephesus [folios 38b-5a] and Hunayn ibn Ishaq
[folios 52b-63a]. There is only one incomplete copy of this book
extant, and its exact date of publication is not known. Since
Bin Sharabeyun ben Ibrahim referred to Avicenna (Abu Ali-Sina
died in 1037 AD), the date is thought to be in the first half
of the 11th century.
Seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is considered a disease of the post-industrial revolution era. Clinical reports of patients are readily available from the 19th century starting with John Bostock's description of his own summer symptoms. Also patients with `rose catarrh' are described in the 16th and 17th century. Prevention and treatment of hay fever were rare in the first millennium:
It is Razi who we think was the first to describe the treatment of hay fever in its full clinical form and suggest remedies (prior to 925 AD) almost nine hundred years before Bostock, having been prompted by the symptoms of his philosophy teacher.
Al-Shahid bin al-Hossein al-Balkhi wrote a letter
to Razi (865-925 AD) asking about the reason of the illness of Abu-Zeid
bin Ahmad bin Sahl al-Balkhi al-Katib. Razi replied to him:
Figure 2: This is a portion of the original Arabic manuscript of Razi written ca. 925 AD. The first part implied an understanding of hay fever one thousand years ago. `In the name of God, the beneflcient, the merciful. Al-Shahid ben al-Hossein al-Balkhi wrote a letter to Razi (865-925 AD) asking about the reason of the illness of Abo-Zeid ben Ahmad ben Sahl al-Balkhi al-Katib. Razi replied to him: `1 understood all that you asked about his illness, as to the cause of the disease and why it becomes worse during pollinisation (Spring season) when the smell of flowers amplifies the illness. So I shall concentrate on the prophylaxis and treatment of the disease very briefly'. The complete manuscript was translated into English from the original Arabic text for the first time by G.A. Bungy et al. Prophylaxis
Treatment Clean the running nose frequently. Dissolve some
material like camomile, a special type of dessert plant or mentha
sativa (Nammam), madder (Fotanj), wormwood plant (Shih), etc. in
hot water and breathe their vapours before sleeping which prevents
material falling to the chest at the time of deep sleep. This happens
especially when one lays down on ones back for a long time. It may
cause coughing, tightness of breathing and breathlessness (wheezing),
and high body temperature (fever). Meanwhile it should be necessary
to take into consideration to dissolve the materials entering into
the chest using some dissolving material such as honeydew melon
to clean and clear the chest easily and prevent the mucous material
from affecting the lung. At the same time, these dissolving drugs
will prevent the mucous that was in the nasal area from going inside
the chest. If there is too much pressure on the nasal area, the
hair of the head should be cut and covered with mustard. Hot materials
such as coriander (ash-shonise), onions and mustard should be smelled
to create sneezing. The things that strengthen the throat muscle
such as cold water are also useful with frequent washing of throat
with constant or regular drinking that prevent mucous falling into
the chest. The above article is an adaptation of a summary
by Shekoufeh Narmizadeh based on a paper by Dr. Bungy et al published
in: |
|
