hakim mohammad azam khan chishti (1814-1902) and his book about crisis in diseases

The term “crisis” in medical context is an important turning point or stage which occurs in some diseasesand if not managed correctly, can become life threatening. despite the use of the term in modernmedicine, it was a much wider and sophisticated traditional medical concept. the first usage has beenseen in the greek writings of hippocrates. in the islamic golden age, this concept entered persianmedicine by translation of greek medical treatises. great persian medicine scholars have paid particularattention to the concept and have written exclusive chapters about it. one of such scholars, hakimmohammad azam khan chishti (1814-1902), an indo-persian physician and medical writer, wroteseveral comprehensive encyclopedic books - in persian language - about various aspects of persianmedicine including crises. in this historical review we discuss his biography and his books, especiallyhis important book rokn-e-azam, which is a comprehensive work on the concept of crisis in whichhe collected and discussed opinions of great medical scholars from ancient times to the 19th century.despite his fidelity, unfortunately he rarely criticized the previous literature and thus did not add anadditional value to the subject else than his comprehensive review. in the recent worldwide acceptedroadmap towards integrative medicine, studying such inclusive traditional manuscripts may give betterinsight and understanding of the behavior of acute and chronic diseases and their appearance, exacerbationsand remissions.