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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dementia is a disorder that occurs as result of a neurodegenerative process in brain, and usually is chronic or progressive by nature. Most descriptions of senile dementia date back to Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Alzheimer described the first patient, Auguste Deter, who suffered from the disorder that later became known as Alzheimer's disease. Although, the history of the disease before 1906 is quite rich, little has been said about the contributions of ancient and medieval physicians to the understanding of dementia. Over the centuries, the concept of senile dementia changed from an inevitable mental decline with aging, to different sets of clinical features with narrow limits of diagnosis of a disease in its own right. Documentation of the historical origins of prevention, diagnosis, and therapies of dementia would make an important contribution to a more complete understanding of this pathological degeneration of dementia. The present review focuses on the contributions of Avicenna (AD 980-1037) to the development of diagnosis and the discovery of etiology of different forms of dementia, with the goal of revealing the extent to which dementia was understood in the golden age of Islam in Persia.

Introduction : Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya Al‑Razi (865–925 CE), who was known as “Rhazes” in the west, was a famous scientist of medieval ages. He has more than 200 books and treatises. His masterpiece on medicine “ Kitab Al‑Hawi Fi Al‑Tibb ” contains around 900 case reports. Some of the diseases which seem to be recently reported have been stated previously, but not well described. Considering symptoms of the patient described at that time, differential diagnosis will be discussed. Case presentation : Rhazes described a patient with bilious fever. He had developed bloody urine and stool on the fourth day and fatigue. Subsequently, the patient’s urine and stool color turned into dark and black, respectively, and died the following day. According to Rhazes attitude, it was malignant measles. Meyerhof in his book has referred to post‑measles acute glomerulonephritis, but more appropriate differential diagnoses are compatible with this patient. Discussion: One of the best diagnoses for this case can be Weil’s syndrome. Presence of fever, icterus, hemorrhage and renal injury, all suggest Weil’s syndrome without pulmonary involvement. The other probable diagnosis is thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Meningococcal sepsis is the other possible diagnosis. Conclusion : To sum up, as three compatible diseases with the case; have been described more than a thousand years after Rhazes (Weil’s syndrome 1886, TTP 1925 and meningococcemia 1805); if the case is either Weil’s or TTP or meningococcal sepsis, it is the frst report of the disease in the world by Rhazes. Keywords : Malignant measles, meningococcemia, post‑measles acute glomerulonephritis, Rhazes, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, Weil’s disease