Comparison of contraceptives in Iranian traditional medicine and modern medicine.

Introduction: Unintended pregnancy is a global problem. Worldwide of the approximately 210 million pregnancies occurring each year, 38% are estimated to be unintended and 22% end in abortion. Un-intended pregnancy is associated with substantial costs to health and social services, and emotional distress to women, their families and society as a whole. Also unintended pregnancy has negative health risk factors for mothers and children. Today there are many different contraceptives, but 217 million women have unmet needs for contraceptives yet. Many couples want to prevent or postpone the birth of next child but they do not access to contraceptives, or don't use contraceptives because of cultural and social obstacles or because of their side effects. Therefore searching and finding new methods for birth control is a permanent necessity. It is expected oncoming methods will be more compatible with culture, test, physical and medical characteristics and life style of couples Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive review on contraceptives in some of traditional Iranian medicine books to compare with modern To do this, we carefully scanned the main texts of Iranian traditional medicine such as Al-Qanun Fi Al-Tibb, (The canon of medicine) Ibn Sina (Bukhara 980-Hamadan, moalejat Aghili, and so. contraception related subjects under the entry of "gynecology", Contextual analysis was done and their discrepancies and congruities were summarized. Results: This data categorized and compared with contraceptive in modern medicine. Contraception issue in traditional Iranian medicine can be divided to 9 parts: male contraceptives (local methods) 1. Mail contraceptives (local method) 2. Female contraceptives (local and systemic methods). 3. Emergency contraceptives. 4. Drugs for sterilization. 5. Contraceptives with effect in definite period. 6. Inhaling steam for vagina. 7. Contraceptives special for menstruations time. 8. Emotional and physical and positional aspects in sex. 9. Food dietary before sex for reducing fertility. Conclusion: This study indicates there were many different drugs and substances with many usage methods for prevent pregnancy in traditional Iranian medicine, most of them were inexpensive and accessible. On the other hand, current contraceptives can't satisfy all of applicant families and many researchers are necessary for making newer, easier, and more acceptable with less side effect contraceptives. New clues for producing new contraceptives or promotion of current contraceptives can be achieved by reviewing, researching and clinical trials on traditional contraceptives. In this way Human generation will be healthier, happier and more efficient by developing programmed pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]