[MUSIC] Professor Bashar Saad thank you for inviting us to Al-Qasemi Academy. I would like to ask you several questions regading the role of Islamic Arabic medicine in the Middle East, in the area, in the region, and especially regarding patients with cancer. But if, to start, maybe you can elaborate about the role of Islamic and Arabic medicine. >> First of all it's our pleasure to come here at Al-Qasemi Academic College and to do this interview here under the holy tree of olive tree. One of the very first tree for efficacy against all type of diseases. Actually, when we start you have three different terms, or two different terms, Arabic medicine, Arab Islamic medicine, Arabic Islamic medicine or Greco Arab and Islamic medicine. All of these things that are the same are to refer to the same things, one type of medical system, the Greco, Arab, and Islamic medicine. I will start with the Greco. Why Greco? Greco is because this medical system started in the Middle Ages, and during the Golden Age of the Arab Islamic medicine, and by the civilization from the 7th century up to the 15th century, which covered that very large geographic area from the border of China to Spain, and then the Russians there. And it's included hundreds of different nationalities, different kinds of peoples, all these kinds, and the first step of this medical system started with a translation of all existing manuscript from the Greek, and that's why we speak about Greek, this is the roots of the Greek, the scripts of Galen, and the scripts of Hippocrates were translated. And when you speak about Arabs, Arabs, that means at that time, and we hope that we will come to this time again, included Jewish, included Christians, and the Muslims, and when we speak about Arabs, that means we have three different religions, the Muslims, and the Christians, and the Jews, and that's why you speak about Arabs. When we speak about Muslim, we speak about different nationalities. About Chinese, about Indian, about Persian, about Arabs, about Africans, about Arubian, and all these types. That's mean when we speak about the Greco, Arab, and Islamic we include all these people who contributed to the development of this medical system. This medical systems I say started in the seventh century by translation, and that are owned by the including of the Arab innovations, Arab Islamic innovations. These are the major famous figures of this type of medicine. These are Avicenna. They are Muslims, because they are not Arab. They are Muslim. Most of them are from Belgium and come to Baghdad and establish their medical system. This medical system is continue up to 15th century, and manuscripts, or the books of the manuscripts of Avicenna, will continued to be the main textbook of all type in most of the European universities up to the 17th century. That's mean the Arab-Islamic medicine, or Greco-Arabic medicine built also the basis for the building of the new medical system, the medical system. >> And does these stream of medicine, Islamic-Arabic medicine, resonates with the Eastern philosophies of Chinese medicine, of Ayurvedic medicine? >> Yes, as I said before, the first thing was the translation and the Arabs. The Muslims took all of these manuscripts, but they merged them together, and built a numerical system based on clinical trials, based on animal testing, based on quantification of tracks, and this medical system, also separated the medicine from pharmacy. The first pharmacy was established in Baghdad in the ninth century. Before the physician was responsible for both, for the diagnosis and Doing the drugs, and after that the responsibility of the pharmacy was the drugs, and the physician was responsible for the patient and for the diagnosis, and also the first hospitals were established there. First hospitals, first clinical trials were also established there in this system. The roots, the Greek roots, the Belgian roots were mainly based on tradition, and the new medical system, moved this, or transformed this from tradition to real clinical-based, or evidence-based medicine, but we still acknowledge the roots of Greeks, that's why we speak about Greco Arab. All this medical system is accumulating. From previous or older traditional medical system and improve them to a new one, and the Arab-Muslims knew this medical, created this numerical system which was, as I said, based on evidence based and real medical system. >> The Al-Qasemi Academy is located inside and is part of the Arab community in the region. To what extent is this amazing culture of Islamic Arabic medicine still exist within the daily medical encounters of patients from the Arab community? >> As I, I think it's the revival of this medical system is like all other medical system, all over the world we have coming back to the medicine, to the herbs, to the nature. People are satisfied with the chemical and synthetic medicine. It's the same trend that we have right here in our area. All people are proud of their history. You see, if you look in the back, all these medical system, medical shops, and so all of them according to, are the same now, and all a lot of schools here in Baca. All named according to all these famous people here. This medical system still existing. I think every household here in has its own plants used for simple things, simple diseases, but when it comes to real things, we will go to the medicine. That's why it's still existing, and the people appreciate, know this. Until four years ago we did the survey with the commerce site from Kentucky, and asked the people there in the Arab sector here in Israel, and also in the West Bank, according their opinion to traditional medicine, medicine than in general, and you ask them one question, if you have the choice between a synthetic or the herbal medicine, what do you prefer? And the majority, absolute majority, more than 95% said, if we have a herb that has the same efficacy as the drug, we prefer the herbal medicine. And to our surprise also asked the physician what they think about medicine plants, and what they think about nature or natural product, and there was a surprise to hear about 40% of the physician who learned, who studied medicine in western schools and so on would prefer medicine plants if this medicine plants has or have there efficacy and toxic tested in the labs. And also people want or prefer to have mixed events that are tested in the labs, and at least their toxicity to be sure that they have no side effects as chemical ones. But again, most people here use medicine plants and we did also review the survey, and the cancer patients, and the percentage of people who use this medicine plants, or alternate medicines, or natural product, and absolute majority of people use this, but they use them in combination, not as, we don't speak here about alternative, either Western or herbs. We use in combination together. They start with chemotherapy and use them to help them to improve their situation, and so on. >> So from your own perspective, what's the difference between alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, traditional medicine? What defines the- >> Things is people think that the medicine plants, or Islamic medicine, Arabic medicine is a tradition. I think this is a school of medicine. A school of medicine you have to go to school, to a university, to learn how to diagnose diseases, how to work with medicine plants, because at the end we speak about plants. Plants are chemicals at the end, and they have toxicity, and efficacy, and so on, and if you know about 25% of the currently used conventional drugs or synthetic drugs all have the basis on plants. That means on the end we have chemicals. If you speak in pure chemical like a drug, or a chemical in a plant, where you have the synergistic effect, at the end you have chemicals, and the chemical, the difference between toxic and non-toxic is the concentration. That means if we will use [INAUDIBLE] at higher concentration, or plants that will have contamination, they have problems. That's why, I think, I don't accept this term, alternative. I don't like this, because if you look here, around us, in the Middle East, you have a lot of professionals who say they have this plant is working against this disease, and this plant is against this, but they have no academic knowledge, no experience with this plant. Most of the experience they have is from the Internet, or from cheap books they read here and there. That's why I think alternative not the term, complementary also not that term exactly, because in my eye, complementary means that you start with the western medicine and complete the treatment with medicine plants. I think at the end you have the integrative, that means mixing both medical systems, the western and the medical, and not to forget that the Arab-Islamic built the basis of the current medicine. I think if you integrate them then you have the same effect that's in the plant. You have the synergism between Western medicine and medicine. Both them together, you have a synergistic effect, that's better. >> And how would you perceive it in terms of cancer patients care, integrative oncology? How would you envision the collaboration between people like you, scientists- >> Yeah. >> And educators, and other people that are clinicians and maybe professionals in herbal medicine, how would you envision the collaboration within a mixed group of clinicians, scientists, traditional medicine, herbalist, and so on? >> Yeah, I just came back from China where they have this school for traditional Chinese medicine, and they don't just concentrate on tradition, they mix the western with the Chinese. That means students there have to study 40 years conventional and unconventional medicine, clinical medicine, and then they have to do their specialization in herbs and Chinese medicine. I think the same situation must be here. After finishing the graduation in medicine, you can do your specialization in herbal medicine, or alternative medicine, or all these types of treatments, but you have to be clinical based and to be educated. You have to have your education in botany, your education in cell culture, all these types of test. How to repair them and mix advance, how to recognize the plants, that this is the true plants, because today in the other world you have for the same plant you have at least three or four different names, and this is very confusing. Today in the current age if you culture this plant in a greenhouse, or you have it in the mountains, you have different concentrations of the active compounds and different concentration means that you are playing with the range of toxicity and efficacy. This means you have to be very sure about these things, and the future will be, if you create the new schools, starting with Western medicine, so-called Western medicine, and continue to your specialization, an alternative or integrative medicine. >> And you can envision specialization in traditional Islamic-Arabic medicine as a stream equal to Chinese medicine, or Arabic medicine, or the other streams? >> Sure, I think in the next future when we have peace we can contribute them both, the Israeli knowledge, and the Arab knowledge regarding the medicine. We can make a beautiful combination between these two things, knowledge and tradition. Let's combine these two things together. We have a lot of resources and data work, but we have a lot of knowledge here, we can combine them. I think this would be a very nice future here if we reach this. >> I would like to ask you if a woman, an Arab patient, with let's say breast cancer is undergoing chemotherapy, and she considers to use traditional Islamic Arab herbs, what are the questions that you would ask suggest she would consider in making her decision if to use the herbs, if to tell the oncologist, how to use it, how to pick the right herbs. What would be the main questions that are, according to your perception, are the vital ones? >> Yes, sure, I say that many times in this review, we are speaking about plants, the plants are chemicals, and chemicals are also chemicals, and chemicals with chemicals have interactions with each other. We have to be very careful about this interaction between drugs and herbs. That's why I appreciate all the best things to give this woman who have breast cancer. Her doctor at the hospital can tell her to use this plant or this plant, not to force her to go outside to herbalist who have no idea, or a herbalist who has no idea about this combination. That mean, again, we have to create a numerical system that combine both. That woman with breast cancer can speak frankly with her doctor I want to be able to use plants, and you can, as physician, tell her this plant, and this plant, and this plant. The day situation was that this woman go to you as a physician and tell her you have chemotherapy, or radiation, I don't know what but she hear from her neighbors and from things that this plant's okay and this plant's okay, and try to use these things. At the end we have combination or contra-productive results. The rain is coming. >> Yeah. >> [LAUGH] >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. >> For being with us and hosting us here. [MUSIC]
