According to the ancient knowledge, which Ibn Sina adhered to and developed in “The Canon,” the world consisted of four elements: Earth (hard body), Water (liquid), Air (gases) and Fire (energy, heat). Each of them had its own quality – it could be dry or moist, hot or cold. According to Ibn Sina, these elements never existed in their pure form, but rather in different combinations in which one of them would prevail, and as a consequence its “essence prevailed.”
The four elements enter our organism with food and breath. Mixed and digested in the intestines and the liver, and then in blood vessels and other organs, they turn into humors: phlegm (jelly-like substances); blood (not yet mature enough to be absorbed by other organs); yellow bile (bile pigment of blood); and black bile (the heavy sinking part of blood). There is also surplus remaining, which is then removed from the body via urine, excrement, and sweat. Humors, the ancients thought, were formed thanks to heating. For instance, different cells in a liver have different temperatures. The fluids begin to mix, and their proper mixing produces mature blood, which organs are capable of absorbing. Ibn Sina called that blood “so perfect that it deserved praise.”
Perpetual movement of humors, their penetration into all parts of the body, metabolic nourishment of organs and tissues, removal of unnecessary substances – all of that maintains life. Fine, so what causes diseases? There are many reasons, for instance, even an insignificant deviation from the norm while humors are being produced and mixed (let’s say a surplus or insufficient amount of one or another combination of elements). Whenever there is a deviation, it means the mizaj is disrupted. That is the early stage of a disease. It’s very important to catch it while it’s still possible to restore balance in the organism, changing a regime of nutrition or a way of life, in a word, that have caused changes. If the early stage of a disease is missed and causes are not established, a disease will develop, becoming more complicated and causing more harm.
At this point, it’s appropriate to turn to another part of Ibn Sina’s teaching, about the integrity of the organism, the indisputable connection and interaction of all organs. They make one common chain in which, as in a chain of electric devices, the breakdown of one device (one organ) may lead to countless consequences – distortion of signals, in a word, the incorrect functioning of other organs, and to “a short circuit.” This is my comparison, may the great Ibn Sina forgive me, but it seemed appropriate here.
A wise physician draws a conclusion. The symptoms of a disease, which sometimes directly indicate trouble with one or another organ, may be the consequence of a disease of quite a different organ. There can be many consequences, and the one that caused a disease, that was its source, may not reveal itself right away. But it’s necessary to search for it and treat it, to treat precisely the organ that was the first to be affected. If it is restored, the consequences will disappear. If the consequences are “treated, the symptoms of a disease will temporarily become dull and will later return with greater force."
Even if contemporary medicine doesn't consider the teaching of elements and humors to conform to what has been later established, Ibn Sina’s assertion about the interaction of organs, their inter-influence, is fully recognized. And it is being corroborated more and more. However, medical practice, for some reason, overlooks it more and more frequently. Physicians in the most specific fields – oncology, cardiology, neurology, urology, dermatology, etc., –concentrate on diseases of only those particular organs that are within their specialization without trying to search for the initial causes of diseases. Why? I don’t understand. Is it narrow-mindedness, work overload, commercial norms? There are many possible explanations, but they cannot justify the fact that this most important thing, without which it is impossible to treat a disease, is neglected.
I’ve already written about the way Doctor Umarov found the initial cause of Mama’s disease – the old trauma to the uterus. Too much time had been lost; the process had spread too far. By the time we met him, her liver had also been harmed. The doctor had to start treating her liver first, and though it was impossible to stop the disease entirely, the efforts of Doctor Umarov helped Mama to live. And regular doctors only threw up their hands, surprised by Mama’s survival.
I can also write about myself…
I had symptoms of cold a few years ago. I had a runny nose, teary eyes, and difficulty breathing. And it went on and on. I was exhausted and decided to see a doctor. He referred me for allergy tests. Treacherous allergies were found and treatment was recommended – pills, injections. I took the pills and had the injections, but the results were insignificant. What a persistent ailment that allergy turned out to be.
But then Tabib Umarov arrived, and he diagnosed me in his usual way, using my pulse. He discovered that, owing to intense stress, the connection between my heart and lungs had been corrupted. In other words, my lungs had not been providing enough oxygen to my blood, and that affected my mucus membranes, among other things. That was the source of my pseudo-allergy.
Such conditions – they can be called background allergies – are often taken for allergies to plants, food, dust – anything. But they are secondary factors, even if an allergy has been found. And it is necessary to treat the initial cause. And that’s what Doctor Mukhitdin did. He managed to make me feel much better.
I don’t dare judge the extent to which the achievements of Eastern medicine depend on the fact that it still considers the four elements and humors the basis for the existence of life. But we can easily see that they are sufficient for an Eastern doctor to understand what goes on in an organism. It’s necessary to add their constant desire and ability to find an initial cause of a disease, their approach to the human body not as a set of mechanical parts, but as the most complex, active, continually changing, sensitive organism, all of it guided by the mind and spirit. It’s the approach that is used in practice – this is what I want to emphasize.
But that’s not all, far from all. Eastern medicine is famous nowadays, above all for its wonderful practical achievements in pulse diagnostics and herbal treatments.
Chapter 13. The Story a Pulse Can Tell
We were sitting around the dinner table, this time not in hospitable Namangan but at our house in New York. The doctor had agreed to tear himself away from his endless work for a week to visit the city of skyscrapers. He had many impressions, but he wasn’t as amazed at our city as we had expected. It turned out that Mukhitdin had traveled to more than 70 countries for medical visits. He visited some of them quite a few times, so he had something to compare New York with. He had been all over Europe, Asia, and the Far East. He had visited Israel. One could call him a Royal Doctor, for when he went to Saudi Arabia for hajj during Ramadan, he examined all the king’s retinue on his first visit. And when he arrived in Moscow, he was taken straight from the steps of the plane to the homes of the highest officials in Russia. Mukhitdin mentioned that in passing, without bragging, though it certainly was something to brag about.
Yura and I (for he naturally came to see his old friend) asked him which of his trips was most memorable.
"The voyage across the ocean," he answered, "on the ship Academician Boris Petrov.”
That’s how we learned of another interesting event, and only because we asked the proper question. It turned out that as early as 1986 the Ministry of Health had invited 30 scientists to make a voyage to visit different countries of Europe and America. Doctor Umarov was one of those invited.