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Herbal medicines for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have attracted considerable attention nowadays. Alzheimer's disease is described in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) by the term Nesyān. In this study, 5 main medicinal medieval Persian manuscripts were reviewed to filter plants reported for the treatment of Nesyān. Databases were searched for related possible mechanisms of action of these medicinal plants. Each herb was searched for along with these keywords: "acetyl and butyryl cholinesterase inhibition," "antioxidant," "anti-inflammatory," and "anti-amyloidogenic." In Total, 44 herbs were used for the treatment of Nesyān; 40 of those were authenticated. Also, 30 plants had at least one of the mechanisms of action that were searched for or related pharmacological functions known for the treatment of AD. In this work, we introduce promising candidates in TPM that could undergo further investigation for identification of their active compounds and clinical validation in the treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The cosmetic problem that vitiligo produces affects patients psychologically. Many patients with vitiligo are suggested to cover their white skin patches with cosmetic products. There are formulations in traditional Iranian pharmacy to color these white skin patches. In this study, one of these formulations was compared with a cosmetic formulation. Methods. Two groups of patients were selected. One group used a marketed formulation and other group used a traditional Iranian Pharmacy formulation. The quality of life of the patients was compared based on the Dermatology Life Quality Index Questionnaire. Results. Both interventions were associated with statistically improved Dermatology Life Quality Index scores over the 8-week intervention (P < .05), although the difference between the 2 was not statistically significant (P = .436). Conclusion. Traditional Iranian Pharmacy formulation is effective in increasing the quality of life in vitiligo patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The intrauterine device (IUD) is a popular contraceptive instrument with reported complications. IUD migration to the urinary bladder, a rare genitourinary tricky situation, may cause stone formation and result in urinary system sequels such as a stone formation and a recurrent infection. Case Report. This is a case report of IUD migration to the urinary bladder, mineralization, and subsequent complications. We report the case of a 35-year-old woman with a copper IUD nidus stone in her urinary bladder. She received a Persian medicine formulation including goat's head, cornflower, silk corn, field horsetail, cumin, black Spanish radish, and common dandelion. She passed an oxalate stone 3 days later. Conclusion. Inexpensive common traditional recommendations might be helpful in current obstetrics and gynecology practice in our region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the history of science could help develop an understanding of the contributions made by ancient nations towards scientific advances. Although Iranians had an important impact on the improvement of science, the history of Iranian medicine seems not to have been given enough attention by historians. The present study focused on the history of anesthesia and pain management in Iranian medical history. In this regard, related books such as Avesta and Shahnameh were studied in order to obtain the history of anesthesiology in Iranian pre Islamic era. This subject was also studied in the famous books of Rhazes, Haly Abbas, Avicenna, Jorjani, MomenTunekaboni and Aghili from different times of the Islamic era. Scientific data bases such as PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched using key words “Iranian”, “Persian”, “pain management” and “anesthesia”. It was discovered that pain management and anesthesiology were well known to the Iranians. Rhazes and Avicenna had innovations in this regard. Fourteen Mokhader (anesthetic) herbs, which were included in the collection of the previous knowledge of the 18th century entitled Makhzan al-Advieyh and used as the Persian Materia Medica, were identified and listed. This study introduces the history of anesthesiology and pain management at different periods in the history of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Persian medicine manuscripts refer to plants such as Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. (myrrh) and Boswellia carteri Birdw. (frankincense), which could be used to improve wound healing process. Since that time, local midwives in Iran continue to provide these herbs to precipitate episiotomy wound healing. To investigate the efficacy and safety of myrrh- and frankincense-based sitz-baths on episiotomy wound healing in primiparous women. This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 90 primiparous women with singleton pregnancies after normal vaginal delivery at Hafez hospital affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from July to October 2019. Study participants were randomly allocated in three groups (2 intervention groups and 1 control group). Women in intervention groups were assigned to receive either 10-min sitz-bath of myrrh extract or frankincense extract twice a day for 1 week. While the women in control group received the betadine sitz-bath for the same period of time. The main outcome was the episiotomy wound healing, which was measured using the REEDA scale before intervention, on 2nd and 7th postpartum days. An improvement in the episiotomy wound healing was significantly greater in patients receiving myrrh than those receiving the frankincense or betadine on 2nd (p = 0.003 and p < 0.001) and 7th (p = 0.043 and p = 0.015) postpartum days. However, the total REEDA score was not statistically different between the frankincense and betadine groups on 2nd and 7th postpartum days (p > 0.05). The present results suggest that myrrh was more efficient than frankincense and betadine in healing of the episiotomy wound and could be recommended as a safe natural therapy. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]