فصلنامه طب مکمل
سال دوازدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 44، پاییز 1401)

One of the important systems of traditional medicine that has grown in the cradle of human civilizations and has always exported doctors, science and medicine to the farthest corners of the world, is the comprehensive system of Iranian Traditional Medicine, which is somehow different from common medicine. This article deals with the differences between Iranian Traditional Medicine and pupular medicine with a logical and philosophical approach.

In this review article, which was done with the analytical-descriptive method, using internet and library resources, the basics of common medicine and Iranian traditional medicine are compared.

The main differences between Iranian traditional medicine and popular medicine is the existence of nature or the administrator power of the body, which manages the activity of all organs and ultimately the whole human body without the intervention of any kind of consciousness, while the popular school of medicine does not believe in such a thing. The second thing that differentiates these two schools from each other is the general attitude of Iranian traditional medicine towards human beings, while the common medicine has a completely mechanical approach to human beings and their health. And in this school, they try to go as deep as possible into the cell or even the molecules and find the defective point. The third point is that in Iranian traditional medicine, individual differences between people, i.e. temperament, are of fundamental importance.

In order to compare these two schools of medicine, first of all, reforms should be made in the basic and fundamental concepts of these two medicines, at the same time, in order to provide a suitable protocol for the treatment of patients, the combined method of two traditional and popular medicines should be used, which requires a complete understanding of these two medicines.

Menopause-related sleep disorders do not necessarily affect the amount of sleep, but they affect the quality of sleep. This study aims to review the results of clinical trials on the effect of valerian on sleep disorders of postmenopausal women in Iran.

In this systematic review study, a search was first conducted in SID, IranMedex, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane library, EMBASE, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases for the related articles published until December 2021 using keywords based on PICO strategy and MeSH terms including insomnia, menopause, valerian, sleep disorders, herbal medicine, complementary medicine, and clinical trial in Persian and English with Boolean operators (OR, AND) . The Jaded scale was used to evaluate the quality of the articles.

Of 389 articles found by the initial search, 6 studies (sample size= 637) were reviewed. Of these, 3 studies examined the effect of valerian on sleep disorders, 2 studies examined the effect of valerian on sleep quality, and 1 study examined the effect of valerian on the sleep dimensions of postmenopausal women.

Valerian can be considered as a safe treatment for sleep disorders of postmenopausal women in Iran. Further studies are recommended to provide evidence for the best dose of valerian with the least side effects.

The disease of Covid-19 has many physical and psychological effects. One of the psychological effects of this disease is anxiety, which can reduce the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study was to effect of Benson relaxation on the anxiety of patients with covid-19.

This research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group, which was conducted on 64 patients with covid-19 admitted to Amiralmomenin Hospital in Arak in 1400. After obtaining written consent, the subjects were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to the divided into two experimental groups (32 people) and control (32 people. After teaching the Benson relaxation technique, the patients in the experimental group performed relaxation exercises for 15 minutes twice a day for 2 consecutive days. In the control group, there was routine treatment without any intervention. The data gathering tool were demographic questionnaire and the Spielberger ‘s state anxiety questionnaire. The questionnaires were completed before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21 with using the descriptive and analytic statistics (chi square test, t-test and independent t) was performed.

The results showed that before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference between the average anxiety scores of the patients in the two experimental groups (55.21 ± 8.85) and control (54.75 ± 6.62) (P>0.05), but between the average the scores of the experimental group (40.43 ± 9.97) and the control group (52.03 ± 6.35) after the implementation of Benson's relaxation showed a significant difference (P<0.001).

Benson relaxation technique has an effect on the anxiety of corona patients, the use of this method is recommended as a complementary method in reducing the anxiety of these patients.

Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion with beneficial effects on the nervous system. The present study aims to investigate the effects of royal jelly in reducing seizure and anxiety-like behaviors in Syrian rats.

This is an experimental study. In the seizure model, 25 male white Syrian rats were randomly divided into five groups: Control, royal jelly 100 mg/kg, royal jelly 200 mg/kg, royal jelly 400 mg/kg, and phenobarbital. After 30 minutes, strychnine was injected to induce seizure in animals. The time of seizure onset, seizure duration, and mortality rate in animals were recorded. In the anxiety model, 35 male white Syrian rats were randomly divided into five groups: Control, royal jelly 50 mg/kg, royal jelly 100 mg/kg, royal jelly 200 mg/kg, and diazepam. Anxiety-like behaviors were examined by using the elevated plus maze (EPM) test. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA, and P<0.05 was statistically significant.

Royal jelly at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg delayed the time of seizure onset and reduced the seizure duration compared to the control group (P<0.05). The mortality rate was also reduced after using different doses of royal jelly compared to the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, royal jelly at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg increased the time spent in the open arms of the EPM platform and the number of entries to the open arms compared to the control group (P<0.05).

Administration of royal jelly can reduce strychnine-induced seizure and modulate anxiety-like behaviors in rats.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death in younger people. It activates neuroinflammatory responses that play an important role in breaking the blood-brain barrier and resulting in brain edema. Various studies have indicated the anti-inflammatory effect and the ability of lettuce extract to reduce oxygen free radicals. Therefore, it is expected to improve the consequences of TBI. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of lettuce extract on the outcomes of patients with TBI admitted to the Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

This is a randomized clinical trial. Patients were divided into two groups of intervention (n=15) and control (n= 15). In the intervention group, patients received 250 g of lettuce aqueous extract twice a day for 7 days. In the control group, a placebo was administered.  For all patients, the levels of inflammatory markers and variables related to the patient outcome were recorded. The data were analyzed in SPSS v.18 software using t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, repeated measures ANOVA, and chi-square test.

There was no significant difference between the study groups in any study variables (P>0.05).

Lettuce aqueous extract is not effective in improving the outcomes of patients with TBI in ICUs, which can be due to the small sample size, short study duration, the illness of patients, the influence of confounding factors such as acidosis, and use of different lettuce cultivation method.

Having physical activity and proper nutrition are very important for preventing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). The present study aims to investigate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) along with purslane (Portulaca Oleracea) supplementation on the lipid profile of rats with NAFLD

In this experimental study, 25 male Wistar rats randomly divided into five groups: healthy control, NAFLD control, supplement, HIIT, and HIIT + supplement. To induce NAFLD, rats received a high-fat diet for 12 weeks. The HIIT was performed for eight weeks, five sessions per week. Plasma levels of High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Triglyceride (TG) and Total Cholesterol (TC) were measured. One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test were used to analyze the data.

Plasma level of TG in the HIIT + supplement group were significantly lower than in the NAFLD control group (P=0.035). The TC level in the supplement (P=0.013) and HIIT +supplement (P=0.001) groups was significantly lower than in the NAFLD control group. The HDL level in the HIIT + supplement group was significantly higher compared to healthy control (P=0.021), NAFLD control (P=0.001), HIIT (P=0.006) and supplement (P=0.018) groups. The LDL level in the HIIT (P=0.01), supplement (P=0.001) and HIIT + supplement (P=0.001) groups was significantly lower than in the NAFLD control group.

It seems that HIIT combined with purslane supplementation can have better effect compared to HIIT and purslane supplementation alone; therefore, this method can be used as a complementary therapy in people with NAFLD.

Optimum recovery can prevent the athlete's functional capacity from falling between training sessions or competitions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dry cupping therapy and creatine supplementation on lactic acid, lactate dehydrogenase and plasma creatine kinase following the Wingate anaerobic test in male handball players.

In this quasi-experimental study, 12 young male handball players in 4 stages with different interventions. Including groups: control, cupping, creatine and cupping with creatine were tested were tested in the laboratory of Qazvin International University. After obtaining written informed consent, in all groups, blood pressure and heart rate and body composition were measured before and after the Wingate test. The Wingate test was then performed in two 30-second stages with a 1-minute break between two performances. Blood sampling was performed in the control group before and after the Wingate test. In the cupping group with creatine, the test conditions were the same as in the cupping and creatine groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS v. 27 software and with the help of analysis of covariance test.

The average creatine kinase (165.12±24.81) in the cupping and cupping + creatine group has a significant decrease compared to the control group (110.12±62.81) (P=0.004). The mean of lactate dehydrogenase in the control (352.10±10.46), cupping (348.10±17.46), creatine (369.10±33.48) and cupping + creatine (356.10±06.46) groups have no significant difference (P>0.005).

It seems that creatine supplementation along with Dry cupping therapy can have positive effects in speeding up recovery by reducing creatine kinase. However, there was no significant effect on lactate dehydrogenase activity.

Pain is one of the most common problems after surgery. Various strategies have been used to alleviate it. To achieve the optimal pain management, various analgesics and narcotics are used, despite of having side effects. Numerous sources of Iranian Traditional Medicine have indicated the analgesic effects of lettuce. This study aims to evaluate the effects of lettuce syrup as an adjunctive therapy on pain relief after inguinal hernia surgery.

This is a triple-blind clinical trial. Seventy patients candidates for inguinal hernia surgery referred to Valiasr Hospital in Arak, Iran were randomly divided into two groups of intervention and placebo. From 3 days before surgery to after surgery, lettuce and placebo syrup were prescribed separately as well as morphine, if needed. Pain was measured using visual analogue scale (VAS) during recovery and 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours after surgery. The data were analyzed by independent t-test, chi-square test, and repeated measure ANOVA. 

The acute pain level during recovery after surgery significantly decreased in the intervention group compared to the control group. The mean VAS score 24 hours after surgery was 0.68±1.94 in the intervention group and 2.75±8.13 in the control group (P<0.05).

The use of lettuce syrup as an adjunctive treatment is effective in reducing pain after inguinal hernia surgery.