Search

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: There is limited evidence about the role of herbal and traditional medicine in pregnancy-related insomnia. Extant documents on traditional Persian medicine refer to many plants which could induce sleep and which were used by pregnant women. In Iran, local herbal shops continue to provide these herbs to pregnant women to treat insomnia. One such herb is Lactuca sativa L. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lettuce seed on pregnant women for the treatment of insomnia., Methods and Materials: In a prospective randomized clinical trial, 100 pregnant women with insomnia aged 20-45 years were assigned to receive capsules containing 1000 mg of lettuce seed or a placebo daily for two weeks. The main outcome was the quality of sleep, which was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)., Results: Each group contained 50 participants. An improvement in the PSQI score was significantly greater in patients receiving lettuce seed than those receiving the placebo. Linear regression analysis showed that, after controlling for the other variables, the average sleep score of the experimental group was significantly lower than for the placebo group (p = 0.03)., Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that lettuce seed decreased insomnia during pregnancy and could be recommended as a safe natural remedy for treatment of pregnancy-related insomnia., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Sambucus ebulus L. (S. ebulus) has had long-standing application in Traditional Persian Medicine for joint pain and for a variety of bone and joint disorders. According to traditional use of S. ebulus and its relevant pharmacologic properties, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and short-term safety of topical use of S. ebulus in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA)., Methods and Materials: Seventy nine patients with knee OA were randomly enrolled in 2 parallel arms of a pilot randomized, double-blind, active-controlled clinical trial. The patients were treated by topical S. ebulus gel or 1% diclofenac gel, three times a day, as much as a fingertip unit for 4 weeks. Patients were assessed prior to enrollment and, then, 2 and 4 weeks subsequent to the intervention, in terms of scores of visual analogue scale (VAS) for self-grading of their knee joint pain, and according to 3 different domains of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire. Any observed adverse effects were also scrutinized., Results: The mean values of WOMAC pain score, total WOMAC score and VAS score for pain of the S. ebulus group were significantly lower compared with the diclofenac group (P=0.004, P=0.04, and P<0.001, respectively). In addition, no serious adverse effect was reported., Conclusion: This pilot study showed that topical treatment with S. ebulus gel can be recommended for alleviating symptoms of patients with knee OA. However, longer trials involving larger samples size, are needed for achieving a comprehensive understanding about the efficacy and safety of S. ebulus in knee OA., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)