Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42859678›Full record

ReviewJournal of medical ethics and history of medicine2026

The unkindest cut: castration, power, and early bioethical deliberations in ancient medicine and the Persian tradition.

Mohsen Shamsi, Mohammad Hossein Asadi, Azam Khosravi, Mahboobeh Ranjbar, Ali Zarei, Saeed Changizi-Ashtiyani

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In one paragraph

Review in Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Mohsen ShamsiProfessor, Department of Health Education, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
Mohammad Hossein AsadiPhD Candidate, History of Medical Sciences Department of the History of Medical Sciences, Institute for Studies in Medicine History, Persian and Complementary Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Azam KhosraviInstructor, Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
Mahboobeh RanjbarPhD Candidate, History of Medical Sciences Department of the History of Medical Sciences, Institute for Studies in Medicine History, Persian and Complementary Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ali ZareiAssistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Estahban School of Paramedical Sciences, School of Nursing Hazrat Zahra (P.B.U.H) Abadeh, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Saeed Changizi-AshtiyaniProfessor, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigates the history of male castration, tracing its evolution from an ancient practice used for punishment and court control in civilizations like Sumer and China to a topic of sophisticated medical and ethical debate in the Persian world. The research highlights the important work of Persian physicians such as Rhazes, Avicenna, and Jorjani, who carefully recorded and improved surgical techniques-including total removal (hence the Arabic term

Indexed as

CastrationEunuchsHistory of medicineMedical ethicsPersian medicine.

Identifiers

PMID42859678
PMCPMC13653089

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.