Exploring the roots of clinical trial methodology in medieval Islamic medicine

Abstract

There is a dominant opinion in the Western sources of history of medicine that the roots of modern clinical trials and methodology of experimental medicine first started in the Renaissance. However, this opinion has been disputed with the thorough study of the rich medical literature of the medieval Islamic era. In the current review, the roots of clinical trial methodology have been traced back to the medieval Islamic tradition and the contribution of Islamic scholars in this field is discussed. The importance of experimental versus theoretical reasoning, the need for a control group, a statistical approach to interpreting trial results, appreciation of uncertainty in medical practice, and the difference between human and animal trials all can be traced back to the rich medieval Islamic medical literature.