$42.49
Author: Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina
Brand: Kazi Publications
Number Of Pages: 266
Details: Review
The [five volume] Arabic text of the Canon of Medicine (Qanun fil tibb or Law of Natural Healing) was translated into Latin as Canon medicinae by Gerard of Cremona in the 12th century and into Hebrew in 1279. Henceforth the Canon served as the chief guide to medical science in the West and is said to have influenced Leonardo da Vinci. Its encyclopaedic content, its systematic arrangement and philosophical plan soon worked its way into a position of pre-eminence in the medical literature of Europe, displacing the works of Galen and becoming the textbook for medical education in the schools of Europe. The text was read in the medical schools at Montpellier and Leuven as late as 1650, and Arnold C. Klebs described it as one of the most significant intellectual phenomena of all times. In the words of Dr. William Osler, the Qanun has remained a medical bible for a longer time than any other work. The first three books of the Latin Canon were printed in 1472, and a complete edition appeared in 1473. The 1491 Hebrew edition is the first appearance of a medical treatise in Hebrew and the only one produced during the 15th century. Inductive logic: This text contributed to the development of inductive logic, which it used to develop the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases. The Canon of Medicine was the first to describe the methods of agreement, difference and concomitant variation that are critical to inductive logic and the scientific method. Pharmacotherapy: Dedicated as he was to pharmacotherapy, Avicenna includes hindiba (endive, cichorium intybus) a drug he suggested for the treatment of cancer and other tumors and which could also be used for treating other neoplastic disorders. He gives details on the drug’s properties and uses, and then gives instructions on its preparation as medication. In inhalational drug therapy, Avicenna describes the inhalation of essential oils from pine and eucalyptus to alleviate respiratory symptoms. Both of these compounds are still present in modern-day proprietary inhalational medicines. Experimental medicine: The Canon of Medicine was the first book dealing with evidence-based medicine, experimental medicine, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, efficacy tests, risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases. According to Toby Huff and A. C. Crombie, the Canon contains a set of rules that laid down the conditions for the experimental use and testing of drugs which were a precise guide for practical experimentation in the process of discovering and proving the effectiveness of medical substances. Pharmacy: Avicenna devoted Volume 2 to simple drugs. He credits many of them to a variety of Arabic, Greek and Indian authors, and also includes some drugs imported from China, along with many of his own original contributions. Using his own expertise, he was often critical of the descriptions given by previous authors and revised many of their descriptions. Phytotherapy: In phytotherapy, the Canon introduced the medicinal use of Taxus baccata L. He named this herbal drug as zarnab and used it as a cardiac remedy. This was the first known use of a calcium channel blocker drug, which were not used in the Western world until the 1960s. –enotes, The Canon of Medicine, Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Clinical pharmacology: The emphasis of the Canon on tested medicines laid the foundations for an experimental approach to pharmacology. The Canon laid out the following rules and principles for testing the effectiveness of new drugs and medications, which still form the basis of clinical pharmacology and modern clinical trials. “The drug must be –enotes, The Canon of Medicine, Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Clinical pharmacology: The emphasis of the Canon on tested medicines laid the foundations for an experimental approach to pharmacology. The Canon laid out the following rul
Release Date: 30-04-2013
Package Dimensions: 20x218x340
