Ibn An Nafis biography | Who first discovered blood circulation
Ibn An Nafis came up with the idea of blood circulation 300 years before Harv
Born in Damascus, Syria.
The full name is Ala Addin Abul Hasan Al Quarshi Alhajm Ibn An Nafis Ad Dimaski.
In short, Ibn An Nafis.
Renowned physician of the thirteenth century. Among the many books, he has written is 'Summary of Law' (Moses Al Qanun). In this book, he writes about the human circulatory system, which corrects a huge error in long-standing conventional medicine.
Before Ibn An Nafis, Galen (130-210 AD) was the main proponent of the human heart and its internal blood circulation. Although Galen had a good idea of the differences between arterial and venous blood, he made a serious mistake in his theory of the combination of contaminated and pure blood. Although he gave an almost correct idea long before Renaissance Europe. Renaissance Europe and later Europe thought that all ancient knowledge originated in Greece. The contribution of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Maya civilization, or the contribution of Muslims seems to be nasty. However, this idea has been proven many times over.
Nafis started studying at Nuruddin Medical College and Hospital, a hospital set up by Nuruddin Jangi in Damascus. Later go to Egypt for higher education. He was first appointed principal of Nasiri Hospital and later chief physician of Al Mansuri Hospital. He also became the Sultan's personal physician. Nasiri provided special training to a number of specialist doctors at the hospital. He sheds new light on the works of Galen, Hippocrates, Ibn Sina, and other notable physicians who are older than him.
One of his books is the Comprehensive Book of Medicine (Assamese Fee Attib). The book is an encyclopedia of 300 chapters, unfortunately, he could not finish the book. The manuscript is available at the Damascus Library. His book on eye treatment, ‘A Book of Correction of the Medicine of Eye’ (Kitab al-Muhajjab fi Attib al-Ain). The book is still available where his own works are numerous. Another of his famous books is A Commentary on Qanun Fi At Tib of Ibn Sina (Kitab Mujaz Al Qanun ----). The book still contains Ibn Sina's work on Hippocrates' medicine and R. Nafis's commentary on it. His book ‘Effects of Diet on Health’ on Health and Diet (Kitab Al Mukhtar Fi Al Aghazia). A famous book is written on his own research and experience. He also commented on the book of Hunain (Johannes) Ibn Isaac.
Nafis's knowledge of medical science combined all the medical knowledge of the time and the impact of his work spread to the then known world. Blood is exchanged between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart and between the right atrium and right ventricle through the lungs. It is believed that this information was first published in the sixteenth century by Vesalius, Colombo, Servetus, and William Harvey. In fact, this information was first given to them 300 years ago by Ibn An Nafis.
In 1924, Mohiuddin Attabi, an Egyptian physician, was studying Arab medicine at the University of Albert Ludwig in Germany when he saw a book in the Prussian State Library in Berlin. The title of the book was 'Commentary on the Anatomy of Ibn Sina's Law'. The book also discusses physiology, anatomy, and pathology in detail. It is this book that reveals Ibn An Nafis's groundbreaking information on the interrelationships between pulmonary blood circulation and cardiac blood circulation.
Ibn An Nafis gives anatomical and scientific explanations based on Galen's data,
'The blood circulation system of the heart and the blood circulation system of the lungs are interrelated. Blood from the right ventricle of the heart enters the left ventricle but there is no direct connection between them. There is no hole in the thick interstitial wall of the heart. As many say visible perforated, Galen says invisible perforated, but it is not. Blood comes to the lungs from the right chamber of the heart through the pulmonary arteries. It spreads there and mixes with the air. It then enters the left ventricle of the heart through the pulmonary veins and creates life-saving energy there '.
He writes elsewhere in this book,
'There are only two ventricles of the heart and there is no hole between these two ventricles. The dissection also shows that the interstitial wall between these two cavities is much thicker than other places in the heart. The advantage of this blood (blood inside the right atrium) is that it reaches the lungs, mixes with the air in the lungs then reaches the left ventricle through the pulmonary veins'.
'There are only two ventricles of the heart and there is no hole between these two ventricles. The dissection also shows that the interstitial wall between these two cavities is much thicker than other places in the heart. The advantage of this blood (blood inside the right atrium) is that it reaches the lungs, mixes with the air in the lungs then reaches the left ventricle through the pulmonary veins'.
Describing the anatomy of the lungs, he said that the lungs are made up of several parts- 'The first is the bronchial branch, the second is the branch of the pulmonary veins and arteries, which are attached to the loose porous fleshy object'. These fleshy sacs are called alveolas. This is where oxygen-rich and carbon-dioxide-rich blood is exchanged. He then added, 'The thin, warm blood inside the heart travels through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs, where the blood slowly enters the air sacs through the branches, mixes with the air, and returns to the left ventricle as soon as the mixture becomes energy. The mixture enters the left ventricle through the pulmonary vein '.
Another work by Ibn An Nafis that is rarely discussed. That is the heart's own blood circulation. Ibn An Nafis says about this, 'The blood inside the blood vessels attached to the heart is responsible for the nutrition of the heart'. So
So it can be concluded that Ibn An-Nafis was the first to mention the heart's own blood circulation.
Ibn An Nafis died in Cairo in 1288 AD.
Ibn An Nafis biography