17° CONGRESS OF EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY AND VENEREOLOGY Palais des Congres, Paris 2008.
“AVICENNA (980 – 1037)”

Abu Ali al-Hussein Ibn Sina famous with the name of Avicenna, was born in Persia in the 980 to Afshana, near Bukhara, Uzbekistan. By the age of eighteen years, possessor of an immensest philosophical-scientific culture, undertakes the doctor profession. Avicenna was studious of Hippocrates and Galen therefore developed the theory of four humors and the derived complexions. Avicenna is also known to fuse philosophy and medicine all in one. Follower of Aristotle and Plato, its infuence on the western medicine was enormous, especially through a work that became soon one of the medicine books more used in the universities: “The Qanun fit at-tibb“. Translated from Gerardo of Cremona in Latin with the name of “Canon Medicinae“, the work, which systematizes the ancient medical thought, is composed of five books to second of the dealt matter. The first book describes the theoretical medicine, the second of simple medicine, the third party of the diseases to second of their localization, the quarter of the general diseases, fifth of the pharmacology, that is of the preparation of medicinales.The Qanun results be connected undoubtedly to the Aristotelian tradition. The Canon, in the words of Dr. William Osler, has remained "a medical bible for a longer time than any other work" and is said to have influenced Leonardo da Vinci. Avicenna wrote also a Poem of the medicine (al-Urguza fi at-tibb), a medical treaty in verses where the medicine is defined like the art to conserve the health and eventually to recover the disease appeared in the body. Avicenna was the first doctor to detect the presence of sugar in diabetic urine, but last but not least, he was also poet, philosopher in addition to physician. Avicenna died in June 1037 at fifty-eighth years, his body was buried in Hamadan, Iran. (Abstract)
Prof. Camillo Di Cicco. Dermatology, American Association for the History of Medicine, Rome, Italy

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TEXTBOOK: LE GRANDI EPIDEMIE MEDIEVALI - C. Di Cicco