Clinical trials from the Avicenna s point of view

Background: Avicenna, known in the Persian as Ibn Sina (980-1037 AD), a Persian physician, wrote a treatise on the testing of drugs. He wrote 7 conditions for investigating the effects of medications through experiments his book, The Canon of Medicine. The aim of thisstudy is to consider Avicenna s description of clinical trials. Methods: For this purpose, we evaluate Avicenna s book, The Canon of Medicine, to access his point of view on clinical trials. Results: Avicenna proposed applying logic to the testing of medications, so, he wrote the earliestknown treatise related to clinical trials. In the second volume of The Canon of Medicine, there is a chapter titled The recognition of the strengths of the characteristics of medicines through experimentation. In this chapter, Avicenna states, Experimentation will bring us the completeunderstanding of the strength of drugs; however, only if the conditions below are followed: 1. The testing medication must be pure, not having been affected by heat or cold. 2. The drug must only be tested for one condition, for if a patient has more than one condition. 3. Drugs must be tested in contradictory disease states 4. The strength of the drug must be proportionate to the severity of the diseases 5. The time at which the medicine’s therapeutic effect becomes apparent must be considered. 6. The drug must be observed for its continued action or for a prolonged period of time. 7. In order to understand the strength and effect of a drug Conclusion: To the modern eye, the therapeutic principles set forth in Avicenna’s treatise may appear to be self-evident. Indeed, one can read The Canon of Medicine and refute most of its findings today. However, the most critical aspect of the treatise is that Avicenna proposed applying the principles of the scientific method to the testing of drugs. This, quite simply, is the basis of the modern clinical trial

کلیدواژه ها:

Avicenna ، Clinical trial ، Persian medicine ، The Canon of Medicine ،