Journal of - International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine

Ibn Miskaweih’s Innovations in Medicine
Amira AUMARI
Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Biology- Faculty of Science University Damascus
e-mail: amirahaum@yahoo.com
Summary
What a wonderful masterpiece, and innovation of this Islamic thinker of such a scientific facts about cultivation of the health of soul and body, depending
on the strength of human body, his thinking, the self-power, the power of creativity and imagination and the pattern of his life and his relations
to others.
Key Words: Ibn Miskaweih , Medicine , Humanity
Introduction
Arab history is full of great names, and genius personalities
who influence human life by their great creativity, and we
are pleased to mention them, and be proud of their sciences,
and eagerly compete to narrate their influence on humanity
as a whole. Thanks to them we are now owners of an ancient
civilization because of their efforts, but some of them did not
get a great deal of attention as much as his important production.
I have chosen this virtuous researcher, Ibn Miskaweih,
Abu ‘Ali Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ya’qub.
What helps me to take this option, the whole of what
I read about him and what others said: “He did not get
his part from historians of science, but there is prejudice
against his creativity and clouds hide his production, we
need to remove them to tell our Arab youth and Islamic nation
about the talent of prominent Ibn Miskaweih
His views on physical and moral health
Ibn Miskaweih mentioned amazing scientific facts
about the physical and moral health. He insisted that causes
of any disease related to both brain, and heart, and they are
linked to each other.
If cause of a disease was due to primary organ which is
the brain, the mind will change and loss part of the memory,
it may also distract and his moral strength may depress;
thus signs of weakness may appear that could lead to slimness,
disorder and change the body and thereby sensual
strength. That’s what is called Alzheimer’s disease.
Whereas if cause of the illness was other organ which
is the heart as love, extreme sadness, fear, or faint-hearted,
this moral illness will lead him to change in the body, it
may cause also pale, yellow skin and weakness as well as
a change in mood, thus a treatment should differ accordingly.
Through our study of the sympathetic system and the
parasympathetic system we can conclude that the sympathetic
system works as an emergency system, when an
intense emotion takes place such as extreme anger, or
fear, it aids in the control of most of the body’s visceral
effectors, as heart, this response known as sympatho-adrenal
response of the body, increase rate of heart-beats,
force of contraction, and high blood pressure. In the moment
of anger or fear, the sympathetic system outflow
to prepare the person for actions like struggle, flight or
heavy works.
The parasympathetic system controls most of visceral
effectors and smooth muscle contraction, to stimulate or
inhibit glandular secretion in daily circumstances. For example,
it works to slow the rate of heartbeats and inhibit
glandular secretion and insulin, practicing Yoga or meditation
to decrease the action of sympathetic system or fight
and flight syndrome.
The heart is nervated sympathetically and parasympathetically,
it works under the supervision of autonomic
nervous system through autonomic neurotransmitters
which are chemical compounds liberated from the ends of
the axons of autonomic neurons acetylcholine, epinephrine
and norepinephrine. Then the parasympathetic pulse leads
to the release of acetylcholine which causes decreasing in
the rate of heartbeats, while the sympathetic pulse causes
the release of epinephrine which increases the rate of heartbeats.
14
ISHIM 2011-2012