Thorax, 1981, 36, 245-251

Moses Maimonides' Treatise on AsthmaFRED ROSNER

From the Department of Medicine, Queens Hospital Center Affiliation of the Long IslandJewish-Hillside Medical Center, and the Health Sciences Center, State University of New YorkCollege of Medicine at Stony Brook, USA

ABSTRACT This paper contains an analysis and appreciation of one of Moses Maimonides'authentic medical works, his Treatise on Asthma. After a brief biographical section, passagesfrom the work are cited and analysed to illustrate the approach of this medieval physician whoorganised the knowledge of Greeks and others who preceded him. Maimonides presents a logicaland systematic approach to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, an approachwhich is clearly evident in his Treatise on Asthma.

Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma, as all hismedical works, was originally written in Arabicwith the title Makalah Pi Alrabo. An originalArabic version with Arabic lettering is manuscript6019 in the Madrid library (formerly Escorial 888).Additional Arabic manuscripts but in Hebrewletters are manuscript 1211 of the NationalLibrary in Paris and Bodleian (Neubauer) manu-script 1202 in Oxford.' 3 The Parisian catalogueonly lists this work with the notation "a few pagesare not in proper order," but in reality the Parisianmanuscript 1211 also contains three other Mai-monidean medical treatises-the Treatise onPoisons, the Treatise on the Regimen of Health,and the Medical Responsa.

Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma was twicetranslated into Hebrew and once into Latin. How-ever, not all extant manuscripts in the variouslibraries throughout the world have been ade-quately studied.The first Hebrew translation in the year 1320,

apparently prepared from the Latin version (seebelow), is that of Samuel Benveniste, a Spanishphysician from Saragossa. He was physician in thehouse of Don Manuel, brother of King Don Fredothe fourth of Aragonia. Benveniste's translation isextant in the following manuscripts: Parma-Rossi1208, Bologna 205, Paris 1173, Paris 1175, Paris1176, Vienna 151 (folio 163, Gold folio 86). Thereare differences among these manuscripts. In onlyone of the six manuscripts is the name of the

Address for reprint requests: Dr F Rosner, Department of Medicine,Queen's Hospital Center, 82-86 164th Street, Jamaica, New York11432, USA.

translator (Benveniste) mentioned in chapter 12.1The Vienna manuscript is briefer than the othersand the Paris manuscripts are incomplete. TheBologna manuscript has the additional title SeferHamisadim (literally: book of nourishments), prob-ably because the unknown patient for whom thebook was written asked for and was given nu-tritional advice in regard to which foods he shouldselect and which he should avoid and which regi-men he should follow to be cured of his asthma.Steinschneiderl points out that the Treatise onAsthma contains parallel phrases and verbatimwording of various sections of Maimonides'Regimen of Health. He also notes that a fragmentof Benveniste's translation was extant in theprivate library of Joshua H Schorr.The second Hebrew translation of Maimonides'

Treatise on Asthma is that of Joshua Shatibifrom Xativa about the end of the fourteenth cen-tury. He translated directly from the originalArabic into Hebrew. Shatibi was called "thescholar in every field of knowledge, especiallymedicine." A copyist's note in Munich manuscript280 states that Shatibi tranalated this treatise foran unknown Jewish apostate of high standing inthe court of King Juan the first of Castille whoreigned from 1379 to 1390. The translator did nottranslate the title nor much of the Arabic textexcept for the names of therapies. Only two manu-scripts of Shatibi's Hebrew version of Maimonides'Treatise on Asthma are extant today: Munichmanuscript 280 folio 35 (copy also in Munichmanuscript 43 from the middle of the sixteenthcentury), and Steinschneider manuscript 30 folio66 to 92b. The latter is now in the national library

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in Berlin as manuscript 232 and also containsseveral other Maimonidean medical treatises in-cluding his Commentary on the Aphorisms ofHippocrates, his Regimen of Health, his Treatiseon Sexual Intercourse, his Treatise on Hemor-rhoids, his Medical Responsa, and his MedicalAphorisms of Aloses.Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma was translated

into Latin by Armengaud de Blaise, a Frenchscholar, in May 1302. The Latin version exists inCambridge (Smith Catalogue p92) as manuscriptSt Peter, Cambridge 2098 under the title TractatusContra Passionem Asthmatis or De RegimineEgrorum et Sanorum et Specialiter de Asinate(should be asthmate). An additional Latin manu-script is described by Friedenwald4 who statesthat this work is "not found elsewhere in Latintranslation . . . This anonymous translation differsfrom that of Armengaud and is otherwise un-known." It would thus appear that this manu-script, which is now part of the Friedenwaldcollection of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,differs from the Cambridge Latin manuscript des-cribed above.Muntner5 writes that Dr L Bertolot in the

Vatican discovered a fifteenth-century ILatin manu-script containing translations of six of Maimonides'medical writings including his Treatise on Asthma.The others are his Regimen of Health, MedicalResponsa, Poisons and Their Antidotes, Treatiseon Sexual Intercourse. This Latin manuscript isprobably identical to the Friedenwald manuscriptwhich also contains the other five Maimonideanmedical works in the same sequence. Both theVatican and Friedenwald manuscripts begin andend with identical phrases: Inquit Moyses filiusMaymonis filii Abdelle cordubensis yspanus-Narrauit nobis dominus rex . . Finis. ExplicitTractatus Alrabo idest asmatis.Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma remained

dormant for several hundred years until the earlypart of the twentieth century when Dr HermanKroner, Rabbi in a small town in Germany, beganediting this work and translating it into German.Unfortunately, he died in 1930 before the task wascompleted.6 Ten years later, Suessman Muntnerpublished the first critical Hebrew edition of theTreatise on Asthma,3 based mainly on the ParisHebrew manuscript 1173 which represents Ben-veniste's Hebrew translation. Muntner's definitiveedition is complete with introduction, bibliography,remarks, commentary, and Hebrew, Arabic,Greek, and Latin indices. Also included are ananalysis of Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma, alengthy discussion on Maimonides the physician,

an essay on "Asthma in Ancient Hebrew Liter-ature," and a brief chapter devoted to "ModernViews on the Pathology and Treatment ofAsthma." For the non-Hebrew reader, there isalso an English summary of this Maimonideanbook. Muntner's Hebrew edition was commentedon by Levy7 and reviewed by Nemoy.8During the preparation of an English edition

of Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma (see below),Muntner discovered numerous various typographi-cal and textual errors in his Hebrew edition. He,therefore, published a revised and correctedHebrew edition in 1963.9 This second Hebrewedition is limited solely to the Hebrew text and thereader is referred to the first edition for the pro-fuse commentaries mentioned above. Since only300 copies of the second edition were published,Muntner published a third edition of only theHebrew text but containing additonal corrections."'This edition is bound together with critical editionsof two other Maimonidean medical works, theTreatise on Hemorrhoids and the Treatise onSexual Intercourse.

Treatise on Asthma

Muntner's English translation of the Treatise onAsthma was published in 196311 and contains apreface by the paediatrician Bela Schick who says:"I was impressed by the depth of Maimonides'knowledge of the disease (ie, asthma), by the clarityof the discusion of its cause and of the influence ofthe environment, as well as the general health ofthe individual upon the disease." In an intro-duction to the English version, the allergist MMurray Peshkin points out that "in spite of spec-tacular modern advances made in the theoreticaland practical aspects of the allergies, the studiesof the asthmatic state, written in the 12th centuryby Maimonides, still merit our attention."

Shortly after the appearance of the Englishedition of Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma,Muntner, in collaboration with Isidore Simon,founder and editor of the Parisian-based RevueD'Histoire de la Medicine He4braique, publisheda French version but without notes, commentary,or index.'2From the time of the Greeks to the era of

Maimonides to the present time, the name asthmahas changed its significance several times. Thedisease itself has changed even more, as physicianslooked for different sets of symptoms that changedwith their theoretical concepts of causality. It is,therefore, possible that Maimonides' Treatise onAsthma may not refer to what is today known as

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Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma

asthma. All one can say is that asthma was adifficulty of breathing or a pain in the chest.

In the introduction to his book, Maimonidespraises his benefactor for having asked him towrite it. Maimonides points out that asthmashould be treated according to the various causesthat bring it about. He further states that one canonly manage the disease properly with a thoroughknowledge of the patient's constitution and hisindividual organs, his age and habits, the seasonand the climate. Maimonides asserts that in thisbook he intends to include general principles whichmight be useful to all people to preserve theirhealth and to prevent disease. He then lists the 13chapters and their headings:

"Chapter one advises on the best course of per-sonal conduct in general. Chapter two deals withdietary measures which should be adopted oravoided when one is afflicted with the disease underconsideration. Chapter three deals with foods to betaken or eschewed, with special emphasis on thefoods of familiar origin. Chapter four deals withthe preparation of the dishes commendable in thisdisease. Chapter five deals with the quantity offood the patient may safely consume. Chapter sixdeals with the number of meals to be taken in agiven period of time. Chapter seven deals withbeverages. Chapter eight deals with respiration andemotional processes. Chapter nine deals withbowel movement, eventually of holding back ofevacuation. Chapter ten deals with habits of sleepand waking up, of bathing, massages, and coitus.Chapter eleven deals with simple remedies andtheir use in this disease. Chapter twelve deals withthe composition of drugs which might be calledfor in treating this disease in line with the presenttreatise. Chapter thirteen includes short summarieswhich might be useful to any man desirous of pre-serving his health and administering to the sick, inthe form of concise admonitions.At the beginning of each chapter I also give a

preview of its contents. May G-d assist me in thislabour."

In chapter one, Maimonides gives general adviceregarding illnesses which are characterised byacute attacks such as arthritis, migraine, asthma,kidney stones, and their like. He cites Galen whorecommends dietary means to treat and even toprevent these maladies. Maimonides states thathygienic principles can be grouped into sevencategories of which the first six are obligatoryand the seventh is commendable: clean air, cor-rect eating and drinking, regulation of one's emo-

tions, exercise and rest, sleep and wakefulness,excretion or retention of wastes, and bathing and

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massaging. To these he adds the regulation ofcoitus as an important factor in a general healthregimen. These are discussed in detail in the sub-sequent chapters.

Chapter two deals with nutritional and dietarymeasures to be adhered to or avoided by thepatient suffering from asthma. Maimonidesrecommends that food be consumed in moderateamounts and should be easily digestible. He statesthat a fattening diet is objectionable and may en-danger life, especially in an asthmatic patient. Gas-generating foods and scalding-hot foods shouldalso be avoided.

In chapter three, Maimonides lists a variety ofpoorly digestible foods such as grossly-sifted wheatflour, flour pudding, macaroni, and spaghetti,especially when these are fried in oil or treatedwith cane sugar or dipped in honey and fried,since all flour dishes which fatten the body aredetrimental because they generate thick juiceswhich block the body vessels and passageways.Rather, flour should be finely ground and un-adulterated. One should avoid gas-producing foodssuch as black beans, peas, rice, lentils, nuts, onion,and garlic. Maimonides also describes the virtuesand detriments of a variety of other foods such asdifferent types of meat and fowl, cheese, eggs, fish,vegetables, and fruits. Chicken soup is recom-mended for patients suffering from asthma as arefresh-water fish. Also efficacious for asthmaticsare fennel, parsley, mint, pennyroyal, origanum,watercress, and radish, whereas lettuce, pumpkin,cauliflower and turnip are harmful. Figs, quinces,and raisins in moderate amounts are beneficialwhile watermelon, peaches, apricots, cucumbers,and fresh dates should be avoided.Chapter four presents numerous recipes for the

preparation of dishes helpful to the asthmaticpatient. One example is a soup made from rue,beet, and chicken, cooked with or without beans.Chapter five deals with the quantity of food one

should consume. This quantity varies from personto person and from season to season. A personshould cease eating before experiencing a sense ofrepletion or fullness. Overeating is one of theprime causes of many diseases and maladies suchas heartburn, diarrhoea, and fainting. One shouldalso not consume a large variety of foods duringa single meal. Not only are the quality and quan-tity of food consumed important but also the se-quence of its consumption. Galen is cited asrecommending that light dishes be consumedbefore heavy ones. Other authors are of the oppo-site view. Maimonides suggests that a single uni-form dish, not too light or heavy, is preferred. He

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then points out the virtues of moderate exercisebefore eating and advises against such exerciseimmediately after meal. He, therefore, regardssexual intercourse, bloodletting, or the taking of ahot bath immediately after eating as an offenceagainst one's health because they involve strenu-ous physical and emotional exercise. Finally,Maimonides enumerates a variety of ailmentswhich occur in people who digest their food in-sufficiently or inadequately: heartburn, loosestools, impotence, insomnia, lethargy, depression,urinary retention, fever or inflammation of thekidneys, spleen, liver, or joints.

Chapter six deals with the timing and numberof meals one should eat. Maimonides suggests thathealthy people should eat a single meal daily andthat the elderly and debilitated and those con-valescing from illness should consume small quan-tities at frequent intervals. One should only eatwhen the stomach is empty. The time to eat againis when the food has left the stomach, when thereis no aftertaste from eructation, and when onefeels real appetite and salivates in the mouth-even then one should wait another half hour.Maimonides then recounts his personal eatinghabits. He used to eat only once in 24 hours,except on the Sabbath. In the winter he drank alittle wine, depending on the degree of cold,before going to bed. For Moslems, to whom wineis prohibited, Maimonides suggests a fine honeydrink.

Chapter seven deals with beverages. Excessiveimbibition of wine is said to be injurious in thatit makes the drinker feel heavy, affects his brainand hearing, gives rise to severe diseases and ag-gravates others such as asthma. However, a smallquantity of wine during or after meals is usefulin the diet of the healthy and an excellent cure formany disorders in that it aids digestion, increasesnatural body warmth, and removes superfluitiesin the form of sweat and urine. Maimonides againoffers a substitute for wine for Moslems to whomwine is forbidden-honeyed drink (ie, mead),seasoned with spices. He also lists spices whichstimulate urination: lentils, borax, mint, anise,ginger, mastic, muscat nuts, and nard. Recom-mendations regarding the drinking of water in-clude the following: it should be sweet, clear, andpure, boiled a little and drunk from a clean vesselafter it cools down. The best time to drink wateris about two hours after eating.

Chapter eight is concerned with rules of conductregarding fresh air and psychic or emotionalmoods. Not only should air be fresh and clean butits temperature is important. On hot days, the air

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should be conditioned by spraying and sprinklingthe floor with aromatic water, by flowers, heat-abating leaves, and draught. Conversely, on cold,rainy days, the air should be fumigated with per-fumes which warm the body. Maimonides assertsthat if a person is emotionally upset or mentallyagitated, his physical well-being suffers andeventually he becomes physically ill. This state-ment is perhaps an early description of psycho-somatic medicine indicating that a deranged psychecan profoundly affect the somatic or physical well-being of an individual. Conversely, continuesMaimonides, gaiety and joy gladden the heart,and stimulate the blood and mental activity. Ex-cessive indulgence in the pursuit of pleasure,however, is injurious to one's health. The avoid-ance of illnesses induced by such excesses is byconducting oneself according to ethical and moralprinciples.

In chapter nine, Maimonides discusses constipa-tion, urinary retention, and other forms of reten-tion of body superfluities. A variety of oralcathartic preparations and antidiarrhoeal con-coctions are described. One should try to regulateone's bowels by maintaining a regular and normaldiet. Very potent cathartics should be avoided.Numerous types of enemas to cleanse the bowelsare cited and various emetics to cleanse thestomach are listed. The conditions under whichall these remedies are to be used are clearlyenunciated. For example, vomiting is best effectedwhen the patient is in a raised position, so thatnothing remains in the stomach. Maimonides thendescribes a series of experiments that he con-ducted on himself to regulate his bowels. Finally,he states that urine stimulation, bloodletting, andpurgation do not preserve health and should notbe done on healthy people but reserved for casesof illness.

Chapter 10 deals with the effects of sleeping,walking, bathing, massage, and coitus on asthma.Sleeping immediately after meals is said to beharmful, as is washing with cold water. Sleepingafter bathing is efficacious. The bath water shouldbe warm and contain some salt. Massaging thebody upon awakening in the morning and beforegoing to bed at night is highly recommended.Several types of massaging are described as arecertain forms of exercise for the young and forthe elderly. The final portion of this chapter isdevoted to a discussion of coitus, an excess ofwhich is injurious even to healthy people. A manwho indulges excessively in coitus suffers frommemory lapses and decline in mental capacity,faulty digestion, and defective vision. Coitus soon

Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma

after a bath or soon after physical exercise orbloodletting or at daybreak or when a person ishungry or fully satiated or seriously ill shouldbe avoided.

In chapter 11, Maimonides discusses simplemedicinal therapy for asthma. He advises one touse an experienced and expert physician who de-velops a rational treatment plan and implementsit. He counsels against the use of "empiricists whodo not think scientifically" but who succeed orfail purely by chance in treating patients. He citesthe following parable: a patient who puts his lifein the hands of an experienced physician who islacking in scientific training is like a mariner whoplaces his trust in good luck, relying on the seawinds which sometimes blow in the direction de-sired by the mariner but which sometimes spell hisdoom. Maimonides is obviously cautioning againstconsultation with and treatment by medical quacks.In support of his position, he cites Galen andHippocrates who assert that medicines should becompounded scientifically and logically, accordingto the individual qualities of the patient. Specifi-cally for asthma, Maimonides recommends enemas"to drain the thick juices", and aromatic herbs"to fortify the brain and dry out any humiditytherein." These should be employed once or twicea year. During an acute attack, chicken soup isadvised if the patient is afebrile, and sweetenedbarley porridge if the patient has fever. Shouldthese be insufficient to allay the attack, an enemashould be used. For the most severe cases, anemetic may be necessary. The patient should sleepas little as possible and in a sitting position. Ex-cessive bathing and strenuous physical exerciseshould be avoided but light exercise may bebeneficial.

Chapter 12 describes compound remedies forasthma in ascending order of potency. The mildestremedy is made from liquiritia, althaea, fleabane,and fennel boiled and strained into freshly maderosewater syrup. Maimonides endorses a remedyof Rhazes to clear the lungs of moisture, ease

respiration, and eliminate the cough: soak wheatbran overnight in hot water, filter, and add sugar

and almond oil; place on the fire until it resemblesa julep and drink when lukewarm. A mild remedyof Galen for asthma consists of equal parts ofseeded raisins and fenugreek cooked in clear water,

sifted, strained, and left standing for a prolongedperiod. More potent remedies of Galen are alsodescribed.Maimonides cautions against the use of opiates

except for severe cases of asthma. He details at

some length the case of one of his patients who

suffered from asthma, a young, thin unmarriedwoman with a moderately warm constitution, forwhom he prepared a remedy containing numerousingredients. His purpose was "to cleanse her lungs,fortify her brain, and stop her catarrh." He statesthat no mention of this remedy is found in any ofthe medical texts written by ancient or modernphysicians but that he had great success therewith.Maimonides again asserts that chicken soup assistsin the expectoration and expulsion of pulmonaryphlegm. He points out that Ibn Zohr preferredpowders to oily pastes for "fortifying the brain"in asthmatic patients. Various formulae for oint-ments, fumigations, enemas, and purgatives arethen described and their varying degrees ofpotency are cited. Most of these formulae weretaught to Maimonides by "Western (that is,Moroccan) Masters" and only a few are recordedin medical books. He concludes this chapter bystating that he only listed those remedies forasthma whose ingredients are easily available andwhose preparation is simple.The last and most important chapter of

Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma is concernedwith concise admonitions and aphorisms whichhe considered "useful to any man desirous of pre-serving his health (that is, the patient) and ad-ministering to the sick (that is, the physician)".The chapter begins as follows: " the first thingto consider . . . is the provision of fresh air, cleanwater, and a healthy diet". Fresh air is then des-cribed in some detail:

city air is stagnant, turbid, and thick, thenatural result of its big buildings, narrowstreets, the refuse of its inhabitants . . . oneshould at least choose for a residence a wide-open site . . . living quarters are best locatedon an upper floor . . . and ample sunshine . . .

toilets should be located as far as possible fromliving areas. The air should be kept dry at alltimes by sweet scents, fumigation and dryingagents. The concern for clean air is the foremostrule in preserving the health of one's body andsoul . . ."

These air pollution control measures advocatedby Maimonides nearly 800 years ago seem appro-priate indeed to the twentieth century reader ofthis essay.

Healing of illness is said to be dependent notonly upon the therapeutic measures prescribed bythe physician but also the nature and constitutionof the patient. In mild cases of illness, the phys-ician should not interfere but allow nature to heal.If the physician errs and prescribes a therapy

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which is contrary to the course of nature, he mayimpede the cure or even aggravate the illness. Evenif the physician prescribes correctly and even ifthe patient follows the prescription precisely, itis possible that cure will not be effected becausenature may not co-operate. The same may happento the farmer: he does everything that is expectedof him yet the seed bring forth no fruit if naturedoesn't co-operate. Maimonides then quotes thefamous aphorism of Rhazes who said:"when the disease is stronger than the naturalresistance of the patient, medicine is of no use.When the patient's resistance is stronger thanthe disease, the physician is of no use. When thedisease and the patient's resistance are equallybalanced, the physician is needed to help tiltthe balance in the patient's favour."This rule of primum non nocere was already

enunciated centuries earlier by Hippocrates whosaid that the physician should help the patient andnot harm him. If one cannot help him, at least donot harm him. Maimonides then criticises "famousphysicians who commit grave errors on patientswho later succumb . . . ". Maimonides says heoften observed a physician prescribe the use of astrong purgative for a patient who did not evenneed a mild one. Some physicians commit grossblunders, according to Maimonides, yet the patientsurvives; others commit seemingly small errors andthe patient dies. Anyone with common senseshould keep this in mind. The genuine physicianis always beset with doubts whereas the charlatanthinks that everything is clear.Maimonides cites Rhazes' aphorism which con-

siders medicine to be an art, and Galen's assertionthat "the medical art seems easy and simple tomen of limited vision but how profound and far-reaching was this art in the eyes of a man likeHippocrates." Maimonides makes reference to hisCommentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates.He also quotes Aristotle who said that most peopledie of the remedies given them, a clear referenceto iatrogenic disease. This observation, however,should not lead one to abandon appropriateremedies. Medicine is a science essential to manat all times and in all places, not only for the illbut aso for the heathy. However, one should seekout and consult with expert physicians who havecomplete mastery of theoretical and practicalknowledge. An unlearned physician should beavoided; if an expert physician is not available oneshould rely only on nature, confirming Hippo-crates' assertion that "nature cures disease . . .

she takes no orders from man . . . nature does allthat is necessary . . ." Where a diagnosis is in

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doubt, it is best to rely on nature to cure theillness.The humble Maimonides then addresses himself

to the Sultan for whom he wrote his Treatise onAsthma saying:

"do not assume that I am the right person inwhose hands you might place your body andsoul for treatment. Heaven be my witness thatI myself know well that I am one of those whoare not perfect in this art (of medicine) and whoshrink from it because it is enormously difficultto attain its vastness . ."The chapter continues with the observation that

therapeutic measures developed by practical ex-perience are more frequently used than thosearrived at by theoretical reasoning. Maimonidesagain warns against the use of "experienced"quacks. The genuine physician has at his disposalnot only his own experience but that of all phys-icians over many generations up to the time ofGalen and Hippocrates as recorded in medicalbooks. Another cardinal rule is that the physicianshould not treat the disease but the patient who issuffering from it.The case of a young Moroccan patient who was

wrongly treated and whose care was then takenover by one of Maimonides' teachers is cited indetail. Other cases of erroneous treatment withfatal outcome are also mentioned. Another casedescribed in detail is the illness of the SultanAmrael Muselmin in Marakesh, Morocco, treatedby four of the greatest professors of medicine:Abu Ali Ibn Zohr, Serapion, Abu Alchassan IbnKamniel of Saragossa and Abu Ayub Ibn Elmu-alim of Seville. The strong young Sultan recoveredfrom his illness but later died, probably of an in-correct dosage of medicine. Maimonides investi-gated the circumstances surrounding the Sultan'sdeath and comments thereon at some length.Maimonides expresses admiration for the funda-mental rules of medical practice in Egypt andenumerates several reasons for his admiration.Finally, he lists the circumstances where suchmulti-physician consultation should be avoided.

Chapter 13 and the entire treatise end with thefollowing prayer:"May G-d the Gracious and Truthful guide uson the right path to our salvation in eternity.Praise be to G-d forever and ever."Maimonides' logical and systematic approach

to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ill-ness, is typical of all his medical and other writ-ings. One should note his allusions to psychosom-atic medicine and his discussion of iatrogenicdisease, seemingly modern concepts. His teachings

Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma

that a bad physician is worse than none, that oneshould treat patients and not diseases, and thatprimum non nocere, among others, should betaken to heart by all students of medicine andmedical practitioners of the present era. It ishoped that this essay describing Maimonides'Treatise on Asthma will stimulate the reader toread this important Maimonidean medical workas well as his other nine medical books, nearly allof which are now available in English.13

References

1 Steinschneider M. Die A rabische Literatur DerJuden. Frankfurt: AMJ Kaufmann, 1902:215.

2 Steinschneider M. Die Hebraeischen Ueberset-zungen des Mittelalters und die Juden als Dol-metscher. Berlin, 1893:767-8.

3 Munter S. Rabbenu Moshe ben Maimon, SeferHakatzereth 0 Sefer Hamisadim (Treatise onAsthma or Book of Nourishments). Jerusalem:Rubin Mass, 1940.

4 Friedenwald H. Jewish Luminaries in MedicalHistory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1946:99-100.

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5 Rosner F. Moses Maimonides' Treatise onAsthma. Medical Times 1966; 94:1227-30.

6 Levy AJ. He'aroth Lesefer Hakatzereth LehaRamban (Comments on the Book of Asthma byMaimonides). Harofe Haivri 1940; 2:129-32.

7 Nemoy L. Rabbenu Moshe ben Maimon: SeferHakatzereth. (Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma).Muntner S, ed. Jerusalem Rubin Mass, 1940.Harofe Haivri 1940; 2:133-4.

8 Muntner S. Rabbenu Moshe ben Maimon. SeferHakatzereth 0 Sefer Hamisadim (Treatise onAsthma). Jerusalem: Geniza, 1963:56.

9 Muntner S. Rabbenu Moshe ben Maimon. SeferHakatzereth 0 Sefer Hamisadim (Treatise onAsthma). Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook, 1965;67-119.

10 Muntner S. The Medical Writings of MosesMaimonides. Treatise on Asthma. Philadelphia:Lippincott, 1963:115.

11 Muntner S, Simon I. Le Traite de L'Asthme DeMaimonide (1135-1204). Traduit Pour LaPremiere Fois en Frangais D'Apres Le TexteHebreu. Rev Hist MMd Hebr 1963; 16:171-86;1964; 17:5-13, 83-97, 127-39, 187-96; 1964;18:5-15.

12 Rosner F. Medical Writings of Moses Maimonides.New York State J Med 1973; 73:2185-90.