Avicenna – a medical genius

[14 October 2010 - 18h07]

In the 11th century, Avicenna was a philosopher, a politician and a writer … and also, of course, a renowned physician. In fact, his Canon of Medicine continued to influence several generations of doctors right up to the 17th century – in the East and also in the West.

Born in Bukhara – in present day Uzbekistan – today Avicenna is still considered to be one of the most influential of eastern scholars. His native tongue was Persian but this erudite man who translated works by Hippocrates and Galen was mainly influenced by Aristotle.

His opus is monumental: he produced 456 works in Arabic and 23 in Persian. The most famous undoubtedly remains his Canon of Medicine – a medical encyclopaedia in 5 volumes containing no fewer than 1 million words! In it, Avicenna compiles an inventory of all the known diseases of the time.

For example, he describes the forms of facial paralysis – central and peripheral, the symptoms of cataracts, meningitis, diabetes … and was one of the first to make the link between diabetes and obesity. He also anticipates the role of rats in the spread of the plague and suggests that certain diseases are placentally transmitted. He also draws attention to the rather strange movement of blood between the heart and the lungs. Some of his recommendations remain topical today: for example, it was Avicenna who pointed out the benefits of taking regular exercise!

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