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Traditional Medicine, Herbal & Botanical Extracts
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Since 30 year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) has considered the development of traditional medicine in order to implement the slogan “Health for all by the year 2000 A.D.”. The decision was based on two foundations; first, lack of access of a great number of people (up to 80% in some counties) to primary healthcare and second, dissatisfaction from the outcomes of treatments by modern medicine, especially in relation to chronic diseases and the side effects of chemical drugs. In 2002 AD, WHO has described traditional medicine in more details as:
“Traditional medicine” is a comprehensive term used to refer both to TM systems such as traditional Chinese medicine, Indian Ayurveda and Arabic-Unani medicine, and to various forms of indigenous medicine. The Traditional Iranian Medicine (TIM) is a school that views the world as a good and seeking discipline created by the wise and omniscient Almighty. TIM consists of the sum total of all the knowledge and practices used in diagnosis, prevention and elimination in Persia from ancient times to present. It is based entirely on practical experience and observations passed down from generation to generation.
Background
The official religion of ancient Persia was Zoroastrian, named for its messenger, Zoroaster. The religion flourished during the Achaemenid empire (550–330 B.C.), Parthian empire (247 B.C. to A.D. 224), and Sassanid dynasty (A.D. 224–637), until the Muslims’ entrance into Persia (1). The Vandidad,the chapter about social conduct in the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrians, contains the history of medicine, rules governing medical practice, and directions for health care and hygiene. According to this manuscript, physicians were divided into three groups:
- Surgeons (kareto baešaza in the Avestan language)
- Physicians who worked with herbal medicines (urvaro baešaza),
- Physicians who treated with holy words (mansrspand baešaza), which were preferred to other treatments.
These physicians, such as the one shown above, were selected from Zoroastrian priests and included some of the first psychiatrists in history. The Avesta describes prahaoma, the first known use of a stimulant produced from the haoma plant (Ephedra distachya L.), which was administered as a euphoriant antidepressant. A Pahlavic manuscript from the Sassanid period described the formulation of a “Happiness Drug,” a psychotherapeutic strategy depicted as a medicinal compound.
Avicenna was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. He has been described as the father of early modern medicine.[Of the 450 works he is known to have written, around 240 have survived, including 150 on philosophy and 40 on medicine. His most famous works are The Book of Healing, a philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and The Canon of Medicine, a medical encyclopedia which became a standard medical text at many medieval universities and remained in use as late as 1650. In 1973, Avicenna’s Canon Of Medicine was reprinted in
New York. Besides philosophy and medicine, Avicenna’s corpus includes writings on astronomy, alchemy, geography and geology, psychology, Islamic theology, logic, mathematics, physics, and works of poetry.
Know-how and Technology Transfer
Traditional Iranian Medicine (TIM) or Persian Medicine consists of the sum total of all the knowledge and practices used in diagnosis, prevention and elimination of diseases in Persia from ancient times to present. It is based entirely on practical experience and observations passed down from generation to generation.
Traditional medicine has the advantage of being considered as part of the culture therefore, bypassing cultural issues that may affect the practice of medicine. On the other hand, it can be used in conjunction with and as an aid to the conventional medicine. Development and promotion of traditional medicine could be considered as respect and honor to the culture and heritage of the people all around the world. TIM has two main branches, namely a theoretical branch and a practical branch which each also branch into sub-branches as follows:
1. The theoretical branch of TIM:
This branch is a science which discusses the status and changes of the human body and the
causes and signs of health and disease.
2. The practical branch of TIM:
This branch is also a science, although it may remind us of practical procedures but it is really
the science of how to keep health and how to bring it back after the occurrence of diseases.
The Seven Natural Affairs In the TIM, physiological functions of the human body are considered to be based on “7 Factors”, known as “Umoor-e-Tabee-e-ya”. These are as follows
I. Elements [Arkan]
II. Temperament [Mizaj]
III. Humors [Akhlat]
IV. Organs [Azaa]
V. Spirits [Arwah]
VI. And VII. Faculties or Forces [Quwa] and
Functions
Botanical Extracts
The standardization of botanical extracts is a highly technical and very complex subject encompassing a number of scientific fields of inquiry, including analytical chemistry, phytochemistry and pharmacology. Having all the latest technology is only one part of the equation: to manufacture a superior product you need dedicated professionals who, having the knowledge and expertise, can source the highest quality herbs, create new concepts and develop manufacturing processes and techniques according to the herbs’ active compounds.
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