Medicine of ancient Persia

The aim of this announcement is to point out to the importance of the medicine which existed in the area of old Persia, as well as to expose some misapprehensions regarding the low level of Persian medicine. The cause of such a low level lies in the limitations imposed by their religion. Avests, the holy Persian books, and the Avests-zand, the books of interpretation of the Avests contents, clearly confirm that the medicine in old Persia was developed. It can be concluded that the medicine practioners were experienced in using thousands of herbal drugs and they knew exactly which drug to apply in case of a certain disease. There were more practitioners at that time, more specialisation types (herbalists - cure with herbs, surgeons - cure with knife, psichiatrists - they cured by giving advice, with holy words, and prayers, infectologists - they prevented spreading of infectious diseases, and finally, the research doctors which could be compared to today's pathologists). The first hospital was founded in Gundishapur, and there the medicine students obtained their practice near the beds of the patients. The doctors of old Persia were extremely ethical; this is confirmed by the fact that they were obliged to cure everybody, in every place, both a friend and enemy equally. The first idea of xenotransplantation of tissues and organs appeared in these areas. There is an evidence showing that the medicine in old Persia represented the synthesis of medical practice and knowledge appearing in Egypt, India, China and Greece during the period of four thousand years. Certain doctors from old Persia were famous worldwide at the time and they had great influence on the development of medicine in the surrounding countries and other European ones. In this kind of context, an emphasis should be placed upon Avicenna, whose work 'The Canon of Medicine' was among the compulsory studying materials for the medicine students and doctors in Europe at the time, for more than six centuries. It was translated into all European languages of the time.