Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of History of Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Neurology, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
3 Hamidreza Namazi, Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Background: In recent years, retrospective research on the illnesses of famous people and politicians of the past has gained great importance in medical research, especially in the history of medicine. The physical and mental illnesses of people such as Napoleon Bonaparte or Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar are among the influential studies in this field. This study performs a retrospective analysis of Amir Kabir’s correspondence during his tenure as Chief Minister, specifically investigating clinical indicators of migraine within his documented symptomatic reports.
Methods: By reviewing the content and analyzing Amir Kabir's letters, all of his reports related to the disease were extracted and the relevant clinical descriptions and symptoms in 71 letters were cataloged. Extracted symptoms were categorized and subsequently assessed using International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd Edition (ICHD-3) criteria to determine their relationship with migraine.
Results: Headache, photophobia, nausea, eye pain , and confusion were among the symptoms that were mentioned episodically and frequently in Amir Kabir's letters throughout his three-year period of leadership.
Conclusion: By analyzing Amir Kabir's clinical descriptions within his personal correspondence using ICHD-3, and based on available historical accounts, this study suggests a high probability that he suffered from a chronic primary headache disorder, potentially migraine. Such a condition may have played a contributory role in shaping his temperament and influencing his reactions under challenging circumstances. Remarkably, this hypothesis has yet to be explored through systematic medical-historical investigation.
Keywords
Main Subjects
- Schmidt M, Wilhelmy S, Gross D. Retrospective diagnosis of mental illness: past and present. Lancet Psychiatry 2020; 7(1): 14-6.
- Cox TM, Jack N, Lofthouse S, Watling J, Haines J, Warren MJ. King George III and porphyria: an elemental hypothesis and investigation. Lancet 2005; 366(9482): 332-5.
- Bhattacharyya KB, Rai S. Famous people with Tourette's syndrome: Dr. Samuel Johnson (yes) & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (may be): Victims of Tourette's syndrome? Ann Indian Acad Neurol 2015; 18(2): 157-61.
- Lugli A, Carneiro F, Dawson H, Fléjou JF, Kirsch R, van der Post RS, et al. The gastric disease of Napoleon Bonaparte: brief report for the bicentenary of Napoleon's death on St. Helena in 1821. Virchows Arch 2021; 479(5): 1055-60.
- Paul J. What is Microhistory? Soc Evol Hist 2018; 17(2): 64-82.
- Afkhami A. The Sick Men of Persia: The Importance of Illness as a Factor in the Interpretation of Modern Iranian Diplomatic History. Iran Stud 2003; 36(3): 339-52.
- Yousefzadeh S. A new look at the life of Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar. Tehran, Iran: Sammae Ghalam; 2024. p. 336. [In Persian].
- Silberstein SD. Migraine. Lancet 2004; 363(9406): 381-91.
- Goadsby PJ, Holland PR, Martins-Oliveira M, Hoffmann J, Schankin C, Akerman S. Pathophysiology of Migraine: A Disorder of Sensory Processing. Physiol Rev 2017; 97(2): 553-622.
- Amiri P, Kazeminasab S, Nejadghaderi SA, Mohammadinasab R, Pourfathi H, Araj-Khodaei M, et al. Migraine: A Review on Its History, Global Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Comorbidities. Front Neurol 2021; 12: 800605.
- Zargaran A, Borhani-Haghighi A, Faridi P, Daneshamouz S, Mohagheghzadeh A. A review on the management of migraine in the Avicenna's Canon of Medicine. Neurol Sci 2016; 37(3): 471-8.
- Amanat A. The downfall of Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir and the problem of ministerial authority in Qajar Iran. Int J Middle East Stud 1991; 23(4): 577-99.
- Lorentz JH. Iran's Great Reformer of the Nineteenth Century: An Analysis of Amīr Kabīr's Reforms. Iran Stud 1971; 4(2-3): 85-103.
- Le Goff J. The new story. Trans. Naseri-Taheri A, Tabatabaie S, Editors. Tehran, Iran: Samt; 2020. [In Persian].
- Abbas R. The context and basis of Amir Kabir's reforms. J Soc Polit Stud Iran Cult Hist 2022; 1(2): 99-112. [In Persian].
- Amanat A. Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. California, CA: University of California Press; 1997.
- Ale Davood SA. Letters of Amir Kabir, including the treatise of Nawadar al-Amir. Tehran, Iran: Nashre Tarikhe Iran; 1991. [In Persian].
- The Ghani Collection of Yale. GIIIA Notes of Amirkabir to Naser al-Din Shah [Internet]. New Haven, CT: Yale University. Available from: URL: https://ghani.macmillan.yale.edu/transcribed-documents/giiia.
- Arzani M, Jahromi SR, Ghorbani Z, Vahabizad F, Martelletti P, Ghaemi A, et al. Gut-brain Axis and migraine headache: a comprehensive review. J Headache Pain 2020; 21(1): 15.
- Vuralli D, Ayata C, Bolay H. Cognitive dysfunction and migraine. J Headache Pain 2018; 19(1): 109.
- Lipton RB, Munjal S, Buse DC, Alam A, Fanning KM, Reed ML, et al. Unmet Acute Treatment Needs From the 2017 Migraine in America Symptoms and Treatment Study. Headache 2019; 59(8): 1310-23.
)