Accepted Manuscript Galen s Book on Sphygmology Fatemeh Farjadmand, Mohammad Reza Shams Ardekani, Arman Zargaran PII: S0167-5273(16)31362-6 DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2016.07.009 Reference: IJCA 22975 To appear in: International Journal of Cardiology Received date: 21 May 2016 Accepted date: 2 July 2016 Please cite this article as: Farjadmand Fatemeh, Ardekani Mohammad Reza Shams, Zargaran Arman, Galen s Book on Sphygmology, International Journal of Cardiology (2016), doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2016.07.009 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Galen s Book on Sphygmology Fatemeh Farjadmand 1, Mohammad Reza Shams Ardekani 1, Arman Zargaran 1,2,3 1- Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2- Department of History of Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3- Research Office for the History of Persian Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Correspondence: Arman Zargaran, Department of History of Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Vafamanesh Street, Heravi Sq. Postal code: 1417653761 Email: zargarana@sums.ac.ir
Dear Editor, We read with the great interest the paper entitled Johannitius (809-873AD), a bridge between Greek and Persian knowledge of the pulse (Int J Cardiol 2016;206:112-3) [1]. We think some more details about Galen s work in pulsology can be necessary to clarify the subject. Galen (129-217), the Greek physician was one of the main figures in medicine during the history. He is called as the father of systematic medicine [2]. Galen s writings were as the influential documents on the Persian and Islamic physicians in Islamic golden age (9 th to 12 th century AD) and cited by them frequently [3]. In early Islamic era, some great translators and physicians started to translate Greek, Persian, Syrian, Indian, etc medical manuscripts to Arabic language (as lingua Franca) [1,4]. Johannitius was one of these translators who translate too many Greek manuscripts into the Arabic. One of his translations was a manuscript about sphygmology which was written by Galen. Nowadays, his translation is accessible and based on we can know what Galen knew and wrote about pulse [5]. The title of this translation is Kitab al-nabz (The Book of Pulse) and also al-nabz lel-motealemin (Pulse for Pupils). This book contains 12 chapters. In this book, Galen described arteries with blood spurts and the relation of them with the heart, how to sense and movement in the vessels, the conditions of the blood movement (speed), definition of terminologies in sphygmology, changing in pulse and the causes, etc [6]. In overall, Galen had a great contribution to the field of cardiology [7]. Besides his mistakes in this field like his claims about transferring the blood between left and right ventricles via the pores in the heart septum; he had too many findings in the field, especially about arteries and pulse. For example he was the first person found the content of the arteries is blood, not air. He also determined the origin of the pulse based on elastic nature of the vessels [8].
It seems that Galen s book on sphygmology was the first comprehensive book with individual title on pulsology. After centuries, this book has been getting attention by Persian scientists in Islamic era like Avicenna and others. Later, Avicenna (980-1032AD) wrote another book in this field entitled Resalat-e-Ragshenasi (Treatise on Pulsology) [9]. In that time, pulsology was always one of the main diagnosis ways that the physicians had to have enough skill in Persian medicine (humeral medicine) [10].
References: 1- Heydari M, Dalfardi B, Hashempur MH, Kolouri S. Johannitius (809-873AD), a bridge between Greek and Persian knowledge of the pulse. Int J Cardiol 2016;206:112-3. 2- Pasipoularides A. Galen, father of systematic medicine. An essay on the evolution of modern medicine and cardiology. Int J Cardiol 2014;172(1):47-58. 3- Bestetti RB, Restini CB, Couto LB. Development of anatomophysiologic knowledge regarding the cardiovascular system: from Egyptians to Harvey. Arq Bras Cardiol 2014;103(6):538-45. 4- Zargaran A, Mehdizadeh A, Zarshenas MM, Mohagheghzadeh A. Avicenna (980-1037 AD). J Neurol 2012;259(2):389-90. 5- Dalfardi B, Daneshfard B, Nezhad GS. Johannitius (809-873 AD), a medieval physician, translator and author. J Med Biogr 2014 Jun 9. [Epub ahead of print] 6- Galen. Kitab al-nabz (The Book of Pulse). Translated by Johannitius. Original written manuscript (copied and republished by Institute for Studies in Medical History, Islamic and Complementary Medicine). 7- Papavramidou N, Tziakas D. Galen on "syncope". Int J Cardiol 2010;142(3):242-4. 8- Karamanou M, Stefanadis C, Tsoucalas G, Laios K, Androutsos G. Galen's (130-201 AD) Conceptions of the Heart. Hellenic J Cardiol 2015;56(3):197-200. 9- Zareshenas MM, Abolhassanzadeh Z, Faridi P, Mohagheghzadeh A. Ibn Sina's treaties on pulsology. Int J Cardiol 2011;146(2):243-4. 10- Zarshenas MM, Abolhassanzadeh Z, Faridi P, Mohagheghzadeh A. Sphygmology of ibn sina, a message for future. Heart Views 2013;14(3):155-8.
Figure Legend: Fig 1. Left: A romanticized image of Galen; Right: the cover of republished copy of Kitab al- Nabz (The Book of Pulse) by Institute for Studies in Medical History, Islamic and Complementary Medicine.
Figure 1