OBJECTIVE： There is increasing interest in complementary and alternative medicine generally, and especially by those affected by chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus. We aimed to determine the ...prevalence and pattern of complementary and altemative medicine use among patients suffering from diabetes mellitus in Shiraz, southern Iran. Another objective was to explore associated factors for use of complementary and alternative medicine among patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS： A 19-item semi-structured questionnaire （open- and close-ended） was administered to 239 patients with diabetes mellitus in this cross-sectional study. It was carried out in two outpatient diabetes clinics affiliated with the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. RESULTS： One hundred and eighty patients （75.3%） used at least one type of complementary and alternative medicine in the last year prior to the interview. Patients with diabetes mellitus who were living in a large family （〉 5 members）, not taking insulin, and believed that complementary and alternative medicine have synergistic effects with conventional medicine, were independently and significantly （P values： 0.02, 0.04, and 0.01, respectively） more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine. Most of the users （97.7%） reported use of herbal preparations, and 89.4% of users did not change their medication, neither in medication schedule nor its dosage. CONCLUSION： The use of complementary and alternative medicine, especially herbal remedies, is popular among diabetes patients in Shiraz, Iran. This use is associated with patients＇ family size, type of conventional medications and their view about concomitant use of complementary and conventional medicine.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a popular natural drug, traditionally used for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Its root, as its most popular part used for medicinal purposes, contains ...different types of phytochemicals and minerals. This review summarizes what is currently known on biochemistry, safety, pharmacological activities (mechanistically), and clinical applications of turmeric. In short, curcumin is considered as the fundamental constituent in ground turmeric rhizome. Turmeric possesses several biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antiobesity, hypolipidemic, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects. These reported pharmacologic activities make turmeric an important option for further clinical research. Also, there is a discussion on its safety and toxicity.
Lycopene, belonging to the carotenoids, is a tetraterpene compound abundantly found in tomato and tomato-based products. It is fundamentally recognized as a potent antioxidant and a non-pro-vitamin A ...carotenoid. Lycopene has been found to be efficient in ameliorating cancer insurgences, diabetes mellitus, cardiac complications, oxidative stress-mediated malfunctions, inflammatory events, skin and bone diseases, hepatic, neural and reproductive disorders. This review summarizes information regarding its sources and uses amongst different societies, its biochemistry aspects, and the potential utilization of lycopene and possible mechanisms involved in alleviating the abovementioned disorders. Furthermore, future directions with the possible use of this nutraceutical against lifestyle-related disorders are emphasized. Its protective effects against recommended doses of toxic agents and toxicity and safety are also discussed.
Background
Carpal tunnel syndrome is known as the most common entrapment neuropathy. Conservative treatments cannot reduce the symptomatic severity satisfactorily; therefore, effectiveness of
Linum ...usitatissimum
L. (linseed) oil on carpal tunnel syndrome, as a complementary treatment, was evaluated in the current study. Linseed oil is a well-known preparation in Iranian traditional medicine and its analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects have been shown in previous studies.
Methods
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted. One hundred patients (155 hands) with idiopathic mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome aged between 18 and 65 years old were randomized in two parallel groups. These two groups were treated during 4 weeks with topical placebo and linseed oil. In addition, a night wrist splint was prescribed for both groups. Symptomatic severity and functional status were measured using Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire. In addition, median sensory nerve conduction velocity, motor distal latency, sensory distal latency and compound latency as electrodiagnostic parameters were measured at baseline and after the intervention period.
Results
After the intervention, significant improvement was observed regarding Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire symptomatic severity and functional status mean differences (
p
<0.001) in the linseed oil group compared with those in the placebo group. Also, regarding the mean differences of both groups, significant improvement of nerve conduction velocity of the median nerve was seen in the linseed oil group by a value of 2.38 m/sec (
p
< 0.05). However, motor distal latency and sensory distal latency of the median nerve showed no between-group significant changes (
p
= 0.14 for both items). Finally, compound latency was improved slightly in the case group, comparing mean differences between the groups (
p
<0.05). No significant adverse events were reported from using linseed oil.
Conclusions
It seems that linseed oil could be effective in the management of mild and moderate carpal tunnel syndrome, especially in improving the severity of symptoms and functional status. In addition, its effect on electerodiagnostic parameters, especially on the nerve conduction velocity, can be considered as a valuable point.
•Sesame oil has been used to treat the joints pain in several traditional medicines.•A prospective randomized double-blind active-controlled clinical trial was designed.•Sesame oil was not inferior ...to diclofenac regarding consumed analgesics.•Topical sesame oil was non-inferior to diclofenac gel on the reduction of knee pain and improvement of some indicators of its function.
Sesame oil is an herbal product that has been used to treat the joints pain in several traditional medicines. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of topical sesame oil versus diclofenac gel in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
One hundred and four patients were randomly enrolled in two arms of the trial. Patients were treated by topical sesame oil or diclofenac (three times a day) for 4 weeks. Outcome measures were knee pain via visual analogue scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire, knee joint’s flexion angle, 8-meter walk test and number of used analgesics. Patients were evaluated at baseline, 2 and then 4 weeks after the intervention.
At the follow-up visits, sesame oil was not inferior to diclofenac regarding scores of WOMAC pain, 8-meter walk test, and knee flexion angle. Although, its non-inferiority was not proved regarding scores of VAS, WOMAC stiffness, and WOMAC total at the 4th week. Moreover, sesame oil was not inferior to diclofenac regarding consumed analgesics.
It seems that the topical sesame oil was non-inferior to diclofenac gel on the reduction of the knee OA pain and improvement of some indicators of its function.
Opijum se kroz povijest rabio kao temelj za opioide koji suprimiraju na središnji živčani sustav. To je tvar koja se ekstrakcijom dobiva iz makovih glavica (Papaver somniferum L.). Uporaba opijuma i ...njegova medicinska primjena bili su poznati još u antičko doba. U srednjem je vijeku poznati perzijski učenjak Avicena (980. –1037.) spominjao mak u svojoj medicinskoj enciklopediji Medicinski kanon pod natuknicom afion. U enciklopediji se raspravlja o različitom djelovanju opijuma, povoljnom i štetnom. Spominje se da opioidi ublažavaju bol, djeluju poput hipnoze, protiv kašlja, na probavu, na um, na oslabljene funkcije disanja, poremećaj živčano-mišićnog sustava tespolne funkcije, a govori se i o trovanju opioidima. Avicena je opisao nekoliko načina primjene i dao preporuke vezane uz doze lijeka. Većina učinaka na koje se Avicena osvrće, kasnija su istraživanja potvrdila, a drugi srednjovjekovni izvori koji govore o uporabi opijuma zanimljivi su za buduća istraživanja. U ovome se članku ističe jedan važan aspekt povijesti medicine srednjega vijeka.
Aloysia citriodora (A. citriodora) has a long history of traditional use for sedation and treatment of insomnia in different societies. This study was carried out to assess the efficacy of ...A. citriodora in patients with insomnia. One hundred patients were randomly divided into two groups of A. citriodora (total essential oil 1.66 mg/10 ml and total amount of flavonoid in terms of quercetin 3.22 mg/10 ml of the syrup) and placebo. They were advised to use 10 cc of the syrups; an hour before the bedtime for a period of 4 weeks. Participants were assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaires at the baseline and then 2 and 4 weeks after the enrollment. Mean scores of global PSQI and its four components including sleep latency, habitual sleep efficiency, daytime dysfunction, and subjective sleep quality and also ISI score in the A. citriodora group improved significantly after 4 weeks of treatment when compared with the placebo group (p < 0.001, for all of them). Also, improvement of global score of PSQI and ISI was observed in the intervention group as compared with the placebo group, 2 weeks after the enrollment (p < 0.001). The results of this study showed that oral intake of A. citriodora can be suggested as a complementary treatment for patients with insomnia.
Introduction. Many medicinal plants have been introduced in Persian medicine references for various respiratory disorders. Considering the growing interest in herbal medicines, this review aimed to ...introduce medicinal herbs recommended by Persian Medicine (PM) references for respiratory diseases and to discuss their activity against respiratory viruses. Methods. The medicinal plants recommended for respiratory disorders were extracted from the main PM textbooks. Subsequently, their activity against respiratory viruses was systematically investigated via queries of scientific databases. Results. Searching PM references for medicinal plants used in the management of respiratory disorders yielded 45 results. Of them, 18 possess antiviral activity against respiratory viruses. There were 29 in vitro studies (including studies on human cell lines) and 5 in vivo studies. Conclusion. This research demonstrated that many of the medicinal plants mentioned for the respiratory diseases in PM have considerable activity against respiratory viruses. However, human studies regarding the reported medicinal plants are scarce.
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•Migraine headache is reported as the most common neurological disorder.•Rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) oil is traditionally used for treatment of migraine headache in Traditional ...Persian Medicine.•Syndrome differentiation model is used popularly in traditional medicine researches.•Syndrome differentiation can help in selection of patients who may benefit from topical Rose oil in short-term pain relief in migraine headache.•Rose oil is effective in pain relief of patients with HOT type migraine headache based on syndrome differentiation.
To evaluate the effect of topical formulation of Rosa damascena Mill. (R. damascena) oil on migraine headache, applying syndrome diffrentiation model.
Forty patients with migraine headache were randomly assigned to 2 groups of this double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial. The patients were treated for the first 2 consecutive migraine headache attacks by topical R. damascena oil or placebo. Then, after one week of washout period, cross-over was done. Pain intensity of the patients' migraine headache was recorded at the beginnig and ten-sequence time schadule of attacks up to 24h. In addition, photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea and/or vomitting (N/V) of the patients were recorded as secondary outcomes. Finally, gathered data were analysed in a syndrome differentiation manner to assess the effect of R. damascena oil on Hot- and Cold-type migraine headache.
Mean pain intensity of the patients' migraine headache in the different time-points after R. damascena oil or placebo use, was not significantly different. Additionally, regarding mean scores of N/V, photophobia, and phonophobia severity of the patients, no significant differences between the two groups were observed. Finally, applying syndrome differentiation model, the mean score of migraine headache pain intensity turned out to be significantly lower in patients with “hot” type migraine syndrome at in 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120min after R. damascena oil application compared to “cold” types (P values: 0.001, 0.001, <0.001, <0.001, and 0.02; respectively).
It seems that syndrome differentiation can help in selection of patients who may benefit from the topical R. damascena oil in short-term relief of pain intensity in migraine headache. Further studies of longer follow-up and larger study population, however, are necessitated for more scientifically rigorous judgment on efficacy of R. damascena oil for patients with migraine headache.
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