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Abubakr Muhammad Ibn Zakaria Razi is known in the West as Rhazes (b: 865 AD, Ray near Tehran — d: Ray, 925 AD) and was one of the most creative and prominent Medieval Iranian scholars. This great physician wrote over 200 books in his lifetime on a variety of fields such as Medicine, Music and Chemistry (1, 2).
The Kitab al-Hawi (a medical encyclopedia) known as Liber Continens is the most famous book among his medical works. This 26 volumes book starts with neurologic disorders and their treatments (3).
His novel notions about neuroanatomy, nerve injuries, hudrocephalus and facial nerve palsy are some of interested neurologic topics of this book (4).
Rhazes discussed "coital headache", and we can highlight three important points from his discussion about this type of headache:
1- He believed that "Tasaode Abkhareh" that means "rising gases", mostly originating from gastrointestinal tract, has an important role in starting of this headache.
2- Having intercourse after eating a heavy meal can trigger this headache.
3- Patient susceptibility plays an important role in developing of this headache. He mentioned this point as "Zaef e Demagh". Zaef means weakness and Demagh means brain. This phrase reflects this fact that people dealing with the same trigger factors may differ on developing a disease. The weakened organ can't apply its defensive mechanisms and so is more susceptible to be ill.
1. Tabei SZ., Riazi A., Medical Sciences in the Third Millennium: An Avicennian Approach. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2009; 11(1):4-9.
2. Zarshenas MM., Mehdizadeh A., Zargaran A., Mohagheghzadeh A. Rhazes (865–925 AD). J Neurol. 2012 May;259(5):1001-2.
3. Gorji A., Khaleghi Ghadiri M. History of epilepsy in Medieval Iranian medicine. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2001 Jul; 25(5):455-61.
4. Abu Bakr Mohammad ibn Zakariya Razi. Al-Hawi. Tehran: Al-Hawi Pharma., 1990.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
23 July 2012
Mohammad Hashem Hashempur
Ph.D student
Heydari. M
Research center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Re: Natural course of benign coital headache.
Abubakr Muhammad Ibn Zakaria Razi is known in the West as Rhazes (b: 865 AD, Ray near Tehran — d: Ray, 925 AD) and was one of the most creative and prominent Medieval Iranian scholars. This great physician wrote over 200 books in his lifetime on a variety of fields such as Medicine, Music and Chemistry (1, 2).
The Kitab al-Hawi (a medical encyclopedia) known as Liber Continens is the most famous book among his medical works. This 26 volumes book starts with neurologic disorders and their treatments (3).
His novel notions about neuroanatomy, nerve injuries, hudrocephalus and facial nerve palsy are some of interested neurologic topics of this book (4).
Rhazes discussed "coital headache", and we can highlight three important points from his discussion about this type of headache:
1- He believed that "Tasaode Abkhareh" that means "rising gases", mostly originating from gastrointestinal tract, has an important role in starting of this headache.
2- Having intercourse after eating a heavy meal can trigger this headache.
3- Patient susceptibility plays an important role in developing of this headache. He mentioned this point as "Zaef e Demagh". Zaef means weakness and Demagh means brain. This phrase reflects this fact that people dealing with the same trigger factors may differ on developing a disease. The weakened organ can't apply its defensive mechanisms and so is more susceptible to be ill.
1. Tabei SZ., Riazi A., Medical Sciences in the Third Millennium: An Avicennian Approach. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2009; 11(1):4-9.
2. Zarshenas MM., Mehdizadeh A., Zargaran A., Mohagheghzadeh A. Rhazes (865–925 AD). J Neurol. 2012 May;259(5):1001-2.
3. Gorji A., Khaleghi Ghadiri M. History of epilepsy in Medieval Iranian medicine. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2001 Jul; 25(5):455-61.
4. Abu Bakr Mohammad ibn Zakariya Razi. Al-Hawi. Tehran: Al-Hawi Pharma., 1990.
Competing interests: No competing interests