Madder (Rubia Tinctorum) medicinal properties and its application in complementary medicine

Backgrounds & The madder plant is hot and dry; which is most widely used in the dyeing industry, but also has many medical benefits. The purpose of this article study was to examine how the use of madder in traditional therapy, focusing on potential benefits and risks. Medline, books, articles and search in websites such as pubmed, Iran medex, Scopus, Elsevier and Farsi sites about medicinal plants with the use of the listed keywords and various researches especially in studies conducted in recent years were used to identify how to apply madder in medicine and traditional therapy. There was 68 articles in various online searches‚ a number of which 33 of them were used in this study. According to research results Madder medicinal properties, include increase secretion of milk in mothers, and relieve extensor spasms, diuretic and emmenagogve, lowering blood urea, sciatica pain relief, accelerated the fusion of bones, relieved the itching of the skin, cured skin diseases and the ends inflation and treats kidney stones and bladder stones. On the other hand the carcinogen effect of madder especially on the liver and kidneys Furthermore it has been proven it increases urine secretion and pressure. The madder as a drug is important but it also has side effects which should be considered. Therefore it is recommended to carry out extensive clinical researches to determine the uses of the plant in treatment and, determination its dosage and with attention to the side effects of madder.