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Overview

The Canon of Medicine is divided into five books:

1.   Essays on basic medical and physiological principles, anatomy, regimen and general therapeutic procedures.

2.   List of medical substances, arranged alphabetically, following an essay on their general properties.

3.   Diagnosis and treatment of diseases specific to one part of the body

4.   Diagnosis and treatment of conditions covering multiple body parts or the entire body.

5.    Formulary of compound remedies.

Books 1, 3, and 4 are each divided into parts (fanns), chapters (ta’līms), subchapters (jumlahs), sections (faṣls), and subsections (bābs).

Book 3 Special Pathology

Book 3 is arranged by body part, progressing from the top of the body to the bottom of the body and covering the function and diseases of each organ, as well as the etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment for each disease discussed. The third book is also divided into several sections, including:

1.     Head, Eye, Ear, Nose, Mouth, Throat, Teeth

2.     Chest, Lung, Heart

3.     Alimentary tract: stomach, intestines; liver, gall-bladder, and spleen

4.     Urinary system

5.     Conception, Pregnancy, the Uterus, Diseases of women.

6.     The Muscles, The Joints, The Feet.

7.     Special subjects: The intemperaments of the Brain; Headache in all its aspects; various diseases of the Brain, Epilepsy, Paralysis.

The information presented in Book 3 of the Canon of Medicine represents some of Ibn Sina’s most important contributions to several fields of study, including atherosclerosis, pulsology, migraines, cataracts, vasovagal syncope, and neuroscience.

Stroke

Strokes are described in extensive detail in Book 3 of the Canon of Medicine. First, two causes of stroke are identified: blockage of vessels in the brain, and blockage of the affective spirit of the brain, a cause that can only be explained using theories on humoral medicine. The blockage of vessels is then further subdivided into two sub-types: collapse and ischemia. [11]

Following this description of the causes of stroke, Avicenna discusses how the blocking agents are derived from the blood or phlegm humors, and how these are most abundant in people with wet and cold natures. Book 3 of the Canon of Medicine also lists several manifestations of stroke: asphyxia, hemiplegia, “headache with jugular vein engorgement, dizziness, vertigo, darkened vision, tremor, anxiety, weakness, grinding teeth during sleep, and dark urine with particles,” and it distinguishes between the different causes and types of stroke: cold stroke, coma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and trauma. Finally, Book 3 discusses several treatments for stroke including the use of herbal medicines and “non-pharmacological interventions such as venesection and dry or wet cupping on the lower neck and upper back.” While the accounts of the causes and treatments of stroke are based upon theories of humoral medicine, these descriptions are still similar to the modern understanding of strokes.

Neuroscience

Book 3 also contains an extensive chapter about neuroscience, which “begins by explaining the structure and function of the nervous system, …parts of the brain, the spinal cord, the ventricles, meninges, nerves and roots, … [and] neurological and neuropsychological disorders, including signs and symptoms and treatment strategies.”

Furthermore, several specific neurological conditions are described, including: epilepsy, apoplexy and stroke, paralysis, vertigo, spasm, wry mouth, tremor, meningitis, amnesia and dementia, head injuries and traumas, hysteria and conversion disorder, fainting and stupor, nervous tic, sexual disorders, love sickness, delusion and hallucination, insomnia, sopor, nightmare, mania and psychosis, melancholia, paranoia, asthenia, hydrocephalus, and sciatica. Book 3 of the Canon of Medicine also describes fifteen kinds of headaches, as well as descriptions of treatments for each of these conditions that are divided into three steps:

1.     Change of lifestyle

2.     Simple medicines

3.     Compound medicines

Surgical intervention and other non-pharmacological strategies were also recommended in some cases, such as electrical shocks to treat epilepsy.

Book 4 Special Diseases Involving More Than One Member

Book 4 covers diseases that affect the whole body such as fevers or poisons, or conditions that could happen to any part of it such as wounds or bone fractures. The book “concludes with a treatise on personal hygiene, emphasizing care of the hair, skin, nails, body odor, and the treatment of overweight or underweight persons.

In Book 4 - as with other ancient Islamic medical writings - large sections were devoted to covering fevers in great detail. Several types of fevers were distinguished, partly based on the location of the factors causing each specific illness:

1.    Ephemeral (involving the pneuma)

2.    Putrid (putrefaction of humoral residues)

3.    Hectic (occurring in a major organ)

Each of these classifications were further subdivided: for example, Avicenna also listed 23 different types of ephemeral fevers in Book 4 of the Canon of Medicine.

Legacy and Reception

The Qanun was translated into Latin as Canon medicinae by Gerard of Cremona. (Confusingly, there appear to have been two men called Gerard of Cremona, both translators of Arabic texts into Latin. Ostler states that it was the later of these, also known as Gerard de Sabloneta, who translated the Qanun (and other medical works) into Latin in the 13th century.) The encyclopaedic content, systematic arrangement, and combination of Galen's medicine with Aristotle's science and philosophy helped the Canon enter European scholastic medicine. Medical scholars started to use the Canon in the 13th century, while university courses implemented the text from the 14th century onwards. The Canon 's influence declined in the 16th century as a result of humanists' preference in medicine for ancient Greek and Roman authorities over Arabic authorities, although others defended Avicenna's innovations beyond the original classical texts. It fell out of favour in university syllabi, although it was still being taught as background literature as late as 1715 in Padua.

The earliest known copy of volume 5 of the Canon of Medicine (dated 1052) is held in the collection of the Aga Khan and is to be housed in the Aga Khan Museum planned for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The earliest printed edition of the Latin Canon appeared in 1472, but only covering book 3. Soon after, eleven complete incunables were published, followed by fourteen more Latin editions in the 16th century until 1608.

In addition to Latin, the Canon of Medicine was translated into Hebrew by Nathan ha-Meati during the 13th century, and complete translations were also made into Turkish and Persian during the 18th century.