Definition, Treatment and Special Role of Catarrh in Perspective of Traditional Persian Medicine

Catarrh is a common problem everyone experiences many times in his lifetime. According to Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM), Catarrh is related to the terms:”Zokam” and “Nazleh”. Zokam is defined as drainage of secretions through the nasal passage and Nazleh is defined as flow of them into the posterior nasal space and the oropharynx; Nazleh flows can also spread to the lungs, esophagus, stomach and some other organs and cause various complaints. Medieval Iranian physicians had paid special attention to appropriate treatment of Nazleh because they believed it is the source for many chronic diseases. According to the organ affected by Nazleh various diseases was expected from head to toe. Despite the great advances in medical treatments in recent years, effective drugs are still needed to control the clinical manifestations of catarrh. Drug resistance and the complications of the drugs make this requirement more apparent. Some of the herbs that were prescribed by former physicians have indicated concomitant therapeutic effects in recent researches so it seems that some components of the herbs can be beneficial in producing new drugs. It is hoped that a review on therapeutic methods of TPM will prompt further clinical benefits.
In this study, we reviewed several valuable TPM text books and collected the master viewpoints about etiology, semiology and treatment of Catarrh (Zokam and Nazleh), then we searched through some scientific databases including PubMed and Google Scholar to match the findings with the new research. The aim was to express the importance of these complaints and suggest convenient methods to treat them; considering that preventing and treating of some chronic diseases may relate to proper approach to Nazleh.