Effective Mufradah drugs in treating addiction to opium in selective sources of the traditional Persian medicine

Background and Purpose:

Traditional Persian medicine is a collection of theoretical and practical sciences that are used in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of physical, mental or social disorders. It has the solution to some of the diseases that modern medicine is incapable of dealing with. The search for and discovering a new drug has always been costly and time-consuming. Therefore, the use of traditional Persian medicine experiences increases the likelihood of discovering new drugs and reduces the cost of research. The problem of opioid dependence and abuse is one of the most important problems in the world's health systems. In Iran, the most common abuse and dependence is related to opium and its derivatives. Considering that the treatment of opioid addiction has not been achieved so far, it is possible to use different methods of traditional medicine to cure addiction. In this regard, there are many drugs in traditional Persian medicine books for the treatment of opium addiction, which are mentioned in this article.

Methods and Materials:

This is a library study based on the review of traditional Iranian texts. In this study, effective drugs for addiction treatment in six authoritative reference books of traditional medicine (Resaleh Afyunyeh, Makhzan al-Advieh, Qarabadyn-e Kabir, Resaleh Bikh-e Chini, Kholasat al-Tajareb, Tohfat al-Momenin) have been searched. The research steps included finding keywords, searching in the sources, generating unit lists, finding synonyms, and finally, summarizing, scoring, and prioritizing 29 mufradah drug (single drug) treatments for addiction.

The 29 mufradah were derived from different natural plant and animal origin. Based on the scores obtained in the table, the results of the Smilax glabra L., Curcuma zedoaria, Castoreum, Hyoscyamus Niger and Ferula assafoetida earned the highest score.

The list of drugs collected in this study can be based in basic and clinical studies to design and manufacture new effective drugs in treating opium addiction.