Iranian medicine backbone of contemporary Western medicine
By Sadeq Dehqan
Staff writer
Iranian medicine, one of the oldest medical practices globally, significantly influenced the foundation of Western medicine. However, some nations attempt to claim this ancient practice as their own. This traditional approach to healthcare focuses on treating diseases and physical ailments through observation and the examination of the four temperaments.
This medicine, also known as traditional or Islamic medicine and other names, is considered one of the oldest and most ancient medical schools in the world, according to Arman Zargaran, head of the history of medicine department at the University of Tehran.
Its history dates back several thousand years, and even the main structure of Western medicine, which is now called modern medicine, is based on it. He believes that despite all the advantages that make Iranian medicine stand out compared to many medical schools in the world, it has not been well introduced to the world. Our weakness in introducing and identifying it has led many countries to try to appropriate Iranian medicine in their own name by changing its name.
In this exclusive interview, Iran Daily reporter spoke with Zargaran, a renowned expert in traditional pharmacy and assistant professor at the School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Science (TUMS). Zargaran also serves as the head of the History of Medicine Department at the University of Tehran and as an international advisor to the Iranian and Complementary Medicine Office of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
IRAN DAILY: Could you first give us some background on Iranian medicine and its history?
ZARGARAN: Iranian medicine is one of the oldest human civilizations, with its roots dating back several thousand years. Archaeological findings and pre-historic periods reveal evidence of medical and pharmaceutical tools from around seven thousand years ago in the Iranian plateau. Written records from various periods also indicate that the origins of Iranian medicine are ancient, making it one of the oldest and most venerable medical schools in the world.
Iranian medicine in the Iranian plateau and the Middle East has had extensive interactions with other civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Greece in the West, and India and China in the East since ancient times. Furthermore, Iran has been a scientific hub and even a political center in certain historical periods, which has resulted in a strong scientific foundation in medicine. Iran was prominent in the medical field during the Achaemenid period and later in the Sassanid era when Jundishapur University was established as one of the world’s significant scientific centers and the first major university in the world. The first training hospital associated with a medical school was also founded in Jundishapur during this period.
It was in this free-thinking atmosphere in Iran that professors and students from various nationalities and religious backgrounds gathered, fostering a rich intercultural environment among different medical schools in Iran and creating connections between them. The medical school we know as Iranian medicine reached its zenith during the Islamic period, leading to the Golden Age of Islamic civilization between the 9th and 13th centuries.
During this era, scholars such as Avicenna, Al-Akhawyni Bokhari, Zakariya Al-Razi, and Ismail, who were mostly Iranian, brought this medical school to its pinnacle, to the extent that it can be said that the foundation of Western medicine and the roots of modern medicine trace back to Iranian medicine. As I mentioned, Iranian medicine had exchanges with Greek medicine in the West and Indian medicine in the East, but nonetheless, the books of our scholars like Avicenna’s ‘Canon’ and Al-Razi’s ‘Al-Hawi’, along with other works, constituted the majority of medical texts in the Western world until the 16th and 17th centuries. Many prominent and serious medical texts, including pharmacopoeias (books containing a complete list of drug information, including type, side effects, storage, and analysis methods) from that era, are related to Iran. The origins of many pharmacopoeias or pharmaceutical texts can be traced back to Iran, such as the Qarabadin Shifai, which was printed in Latin in France during that period as Pharmacopoeia Persica and inspired medical and pharmacopoeia writing in Europe. Iranians also played a significant role in the development of the scientific and medical field during the Islamic period. Today, we are the inheritors of this medical school globally, and this legacy can play a crucial role in shaping the identity and history of our society, as well as in the advancement of healthcare and treatment in our country.
Despite our significant scientific and medical background in the world, why is Iranian traditional medicine not as well-known globally?
The matter of introducing Iran’s medical background and our traditional medicine to the world is a matter of policy and the politicians’ perspective. To make a topic globally known, you need to invest properly in it, and so far, we have not invested well in this regard. However, Iran is currently one of the leading countries in medicine, and our medical identifiers and traditional medicine have been incorporated into the medical subject headings of the world.
Currently, many short courses on Iranian traditional medicine are being held outside Iran, and our medicine is being taught in countries like Austria, Greece, Tunisia, South Korea, and various other places in short courses. Either our professors go to these countries to conduct these courses, or their students come to Iran to participate. Nevertheless, we are still far from our goal of adequately introducing Iranian traditional medicine centers around the world. Achieving this goal requires our policymakers, especially in the Ministry of Health, to pay attention to promoting and developing Iranian traditional medicine globally.
Our neglect in this regard has led to many countries trying to appropriate our traditional medicine as their own or introducing it under different names. For instance, Greek medicine in India is the same as Iranian traditional medicine, which was brought to India by our physicians during the Safavid era. Similarly, in Turkey, Iranian traditional medicine is promoted as Anatolian medicine.
What are the characteristics of Iranian medicine and how can it be distinguished from other medical schools of thought around the world?
Iranian medicine is a temperamental medicine, and its treatment is based on the identification of the four temperaments: Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, and Melancholy. Its roots can be traced back to the ancient Iranian science of Avicenna. The Indian government has invested $250 million in traditional medicine and has established a global center for traditional medicine in Gujarat, India, under the supervision of the World Health Organization. This investment will yield significant returns in terms of identity, culture, health development, and tourism over time. As one of the leading countries in traditional medicine, we should also invest in this field. We need to separate the non-essential elements that may have been incorporated into Iranian medicine and develop its principles and advantages.
Some criticize traditional medicine, claiming it lacks a solid scientific foundation. What is your opinion on this?
These criticisms stem from a lack of knowledge among critics to analyze the subject properly. Iranian traditional medicine is based on personalized medicine, which is a new concept in medical science.
The identification of temperaments in Iranian medicine and the treatment based on the phenotype (the characteristics and features that appear in the appearance of organisms) of individuals is rooted in their genetics. Therefore, the identification of diseases based on appearances in Iranian medicine is not very different from genetic testing. In fact, traditional and modern medicine view diseases from different perspectives, but the outcome is the same, and both are used for treatment. Thus, neither is wrong, and in my opinion, if a connection is established between modern and traditional medicine, they will complement each other.