Özgür KUŞ, Ahmet ACIDUMAN
European Journal of Therapeutics - 2026;32(1):70-78
Objective: This study aims to explore the section on the regimen of elders in Kit?b al-Ta?r?f li-man ?ajiza ?an al-ta?l?f written by Ab? al-Q?sim Khalaf ibn ?Abb?s al-Zahr?w? (936-1013), and to contribute to the literature from a perspective of the history of medicine. Methods: The section on the regimen of elders in Kit?b al-Ta?r?f was translated from Arabic into English by the authors and subsequently analyzed. The content was then compared with, and evaluated in the context of, contemporary medical texts from the same period that addressed elderly care and preventive health measures for the elderly. Results: Topics related to the regimen of elders are found in the second chapter of the handwritten manuscript of Kit?b al-Ta?r?f, under the subheading "Tadb?r al-Shuy?kh". In this section, al-Zahr?w? provides a detailed discussion of various preventive and therapeutic measures concerning the temperament of elderly individuals, their diet, bathing and massage practices, use of pleasant scents, physical exercise, sexuality, medications, and laxatives. Conclusion: The approach of al-Zahr?w? to the regimen of elders aligns with the medical paradigm of his time-humoral pathology theory-and exhibits similarities with the views of both his predecessors and other physicians within the medieval Islamic world. Furthermore, his explicit discussion of the sexual life of elderly individuals distinguishes him from other medical scholars of his era and constitutes a significant contribution to the history of medicine.
