Maimonides (Cordoba 1138-Cairo 1138) was a Jewish physician, rabbi and philosopher of al-Andalus. By 1168 he was exiled to Egypt with his family, where he devoted himself to the practice of medicine and obtained a great prestige that took him to the service of the vizier's court. He is undoubtedly the most important and prolific author in the history of medieval medicine. His work, as varied and extensive as deep and interesting, had a great impact in the context of Jewish literature in general.

The book of asthma was originally written in Arabic by a nobleman who suffered from this disease. It deals with topics such as diet, drink, mood disorders, evacuation, sleep, massage and sex. In the last chapters, Maimonides talks about the methods of healing, the composition of drugs and concludes with various recommendations on health. For Maimonides, the disease of asthma lies in the brain and lungs, but it is bad habits, environmental conditions and exacerbation of feelings the ultimate cause of their appearance. It is, therefore, a vision that integrates the body and spirit, man and his environment.

This four-volume edition, translated and edited by Professor Lola Ferre, is the reissue of the first published Spanish version of the medical works of Maimonides. This second volume includes the treatise titled The book of asthma. The treaties contained in the other volumes are: The health regime and The treatise on the cure of hemorrhoids (vol. I), The commentary on the aphorisms of Hippocrates (vol III) and The medical aphorisms (vol IV).