JRSM > Volume 99, Number 9 > Pp. 437

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Letters

Al-Razi and Islamic medicine in the 9th century

S E Tchamouroff

Retired Consultant Physician in Genitourinary Medicine, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, UK

E-mail: stephpaul{at}hotmail.co.uk

As S Tibi's article states Al-Razi was indeed an exceptional physician (April 2006 JRSM¹). He was a polymath, an observant clinician and a prolific writer. In one of his most noted publications he described patients with acute urethritis similar to the gonorrhoea that we see today. He was the first physician to detail full and definitive manifestations of gonorrhoea.² He wrote of urethral discharge and its treatment by irrigation; he was familiar with urethral stricture, and emphasized the importance of catheterization if there was a threat of retention of urine.

Ancient physicians (Hippocrates, Galen and Celsus) wrote about urethral discharge, but the overall clinical picture they presented was very different from gonorrhoea as we know it. Al-Razi was instrumental in convincing medical historians to conclude that gonorrhoea originated in the Middle Ages—a landmark in the history of venereology.

Footnotes

Competing interests None declared.

REFERENCES

1. Tibi S. Al-Razi and Islamic medicine in the 9th Century. J R Soc Med 2006; 99: 206-7[Free Full Text]

2. Oriel JD. The Scars of Venus. London: Springer-Verlag,1994

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Send a Quick Comment Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Quick Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tchamouroff, S E Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?