Review and critique of the article "Bath, Its Preventive and Therapeutic Approach in Iranian Medicine"

Document Type : Viewpoint/Perspective/Opinion

Authors

1 M.SC, Department of Traditional Iranian Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D, Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 M.Sc in Medical Sciences History, Department of History of Medical Sciences, School of Allied of Medical Sciences, Mazanadaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

Abstract

Traditional Iranian medicine practitioners in the Most medical texts from the era of the Islamic civilization have emphasized the preventative and therapeutic effects of bathhouses (Hammam) on disease, illuminating the various mechanisms involved.. As a result, numerous studies have dealt with the role of the bathhouse in preserving public health in traditional Iranian medicine. The present study seeks to review and critique the essay "Bath, Its Preventive and Therapeutic Approach in Iranian Medicine" by Zahra Hossein Hashemi, published in the journal of Science History (volume 17. No. 1. Spring and summer of 2019). This research is an analytical and critical study. It draws upon library sources to review and evaluate the abovementioned essay from structural, substantive, and methodological perspectives. The essay is coherently written. The authors seek to introduce the views of traditional Iranian physicians about the effect of bathhouses on physical health based on preventative and therapeutic approaches. The article, however, contains some referencing and writing errors. It also fails to clarify its limits and bounds. Furthermore, some of the essay's substantive weaknesses include the following: failing to explain the traditional medical vocabulary, ambiguity surrounding the preventative and therapeutic effects of the bathhouse, insufficient scientific evidence to support the mentioned scientific arguments and justifications and inaccurate translation of the texts of the Iranian traditional medicine to Arabic. The findings of this study indicate that although the essay in question has introduced a novel subject to scholars of medical history by investigating the preventative and therapeutic effects of the bathhouse in Iranian traditional medicine, it suffers from numerous structural, substantive, and methodological shortcomings. Given the essential role of critique in scientific studies, the researchers who are interested in this field could consider the mentioned flaws to improve the studies on the history of medicine.

Keywords

References

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