Avicenna: effects of opium on sensation and pain.

Abstract

The effects of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, have been known for most of human history. At the end of the third millennium BC, the Sumerians were the first civilization to cultivate opium, which was soon distributed across the ancient world. 1 Khademi H Kamangar F Brennan P Malekzadeh R Opioid Therapy and its side effects: A Review. Arch Iran Med. 2016; 19: 870-876 PubMed Google Scholar Medicinal uses of the opium poppy were first described in medical textbooks of ancient Greek physicians, including Dioscorides (40–90 AD) and Galen (129–200 AD), and later in the medieval period by a famous Persian scholar named Avicenna (980–1037 AD). 1 Khademi H Kamangar F Brennan P Malekzadeh R Opioid Therapy and its side effects: A Review. Arch Iran Med. 2016; 19: 870-876 PubMed Google Scholar , 2 Heydari M Hashempur MH Zargaran A Medicinal aspects of opium as described in Avicenna's Canon of Medicine. Acta Med Hist Adriat. 2013; 11: 101-112 PubMed Google Scholar In the Canon of Medicine, Avicenna clearly described the analgesic activity of opium and explained that opium can be used to treat any type of pain due to its strong anaesthetic and sedative properties. 3 Ibn-e-Sina AAH (Avicenna)Al-Qānūn fī al-Tibb (Canon of Medicine). Dare Ehyae al-Torathe al-Arabi (Beirut), 2005 Google Scholar He recommended prescribing opium for pain relief in refractory chronic headaches, arthralgia, toothache, otalgia, and other painful conditions, through different routes of drug delivery, including oral, topical, rectal, and intranasal. 2 Heydari M Hashempur MH Zargaran A Medicinal aspects of opium as described in Avicenna's Canon of Medicine. Acta Med Hist Adriat. 2013; 11: 101-112 PubMed Google Scholar , 3 Ibn-e-Sina AAH (Avicenna)Al-Qānūn fī al-Tibb (Canon of Medicine). Dare Ehyae al-Torathe al-Arabi (Beirut), 2005 Google Scholar