Tārīkh-i pizishkī i.e., Medical History

Introduction: The human body undergoes many changes during pregnancy, such as constipation that is the second common digestive complaint among pregnant women. Since constipation create many complications in the mother and fetus, also a lot of medication during pregnancy is contraindicated, therefore the adjustment of diet and lifestyle to deal with this problem is essential. Iranian Traditional Medicine has a comprehensive approach to pregnancy. So we can set up a program for pregnant women to prevent constipation and its treatment by traditional medicine resources. Using these experiences with achievements of modern medicine is useful.

Method: In this review study, important traditional reference books and new articles were searched and the findings of modern medicine scientists and physicians were compared briefly with traditional medicine findings.

Results: First, the concept of constipation and its cause or aggravating factors was assessed and then specifically constipation during pregnancy and its treatment was examined.

Discussion & Conclusion: According to the Iranian traditional physicians’ attention in prenatal care and attention to sanitation as a principle of health, nowadays we can use traditional medicine specialists’ finding in reproductive health and research and establish researches base on their speeches and experiences.

Introduction: Epilepsy is one of the most serious neurological disorders that due to chronic, often it requires long-term treatment. At the moment despite existence of many anti-epileptic drugs, side effects of these drugs and their restriction causes lack of access to appropriate therapeutic effects. Due to the increasing tendency of patients to traditional and complementary medicine, use of current treatments for epilepsy in the context of traditional medicine with a history of thousands years can be a good solution in this disease. In this paper we will evaluate the different treatments of traditional medicine and modern medicine; so that a combination of two methods, places a good solution in front of patients.

Method: This study is a literature review and the work on traditional medicine literature that separately matters related to epilepsy and its treatments. On the other hand new papers and researches will be reviewed.

Results: Regard the principles of hygiene is essential from the viewpoint of Iranian traditional medicine scholars for the treatment of epilepsy. The modification of lifestyle and dietary is recommended. The single and compound drugs are prescribed oral and topical forms, and finally manual practices such as bloodletting, cupping, massage and many oils are advised. While in modern medicine often oral medications and sometimes electrical treatments and surgery can be used.

Discussion & Conclusion: The use of oral and topical drugs of natural origin with common medications in the treatment of epilepsy can be considered as a complementary therapy and this would require further clinical studies.

In industrialized countries, cancer is the second cause of death and in Iran is the third. So, one of the research priorities of all communities is according to the methods of prevention and treatment of cancer.

This study is an analytical review of the etiology, prevention and treatment of cancer from the viewpoint of Iranian Traditional Medicine.

Persian physicians believed that human body was composed of four substances that named humorous (blood, phlegm, bile, black bile) and imbalance of them causes different types of diseases.

From the perspective of Iranian Traditional physicians, Ignition and combustion phenomena humors is the starting point for the onset of cancer. Based on this insight, preventive and therapeutic strategies have been proposed.

They are believed abnormal black bile, have the power of influence, aggression and high dispersion. However, stimulating interventions had been avoided in the cancers of internal organs. The goal of treatment and recurrent inhibition are reduction of carcinogenic substance, improving body action and Inhibition of Invasive behavior of disease.

Introduction: Musculoskeletal symptoms include more than 20% of all outpatient visits in the US. 22% (46 million people) of US population suffer from an arthritis which is diagnosed by a physician and 19 million of them have significant functional restriction.

In Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM), "Vaja e mafasel" means arthralgia (feeling of pain in joints). The cornerstone of treatment in ITM is to remove the cause and in addition to various medications, nutritional and lifestyle instructions play a major role as well. Regarding the high prevalence of arthralgia and resultant disability, we tried to collect the therapeutic strategies from ITM references in this manuscript.

Method: This is a review library study which is prepared using "Tebe Noor library" software from main ITM text books (from 2^nd to 4^th AH).

Results: As a whole, treatment of arthralgia includes removing the cause and also the humors if present, Temperamental remodeling and Organ reinforcement (the last is to prevent the relapse). In this manuscript we state the treatments in four major groups including: Lifestyle, Nutritional instructions (advices and regimens), Medications (oral and local), Manual operations.

Discussion & Conclusion: One of the most important causes of arthralgia is wrong lifestyle. Therefore prevention could be achieved by correcting the lifestyle. Many of mentioned instructions in this manuscript are alterations in lifestyle and so are easy to follow (just by informing and cultural corrections). Majority of treatments are not difficult or expensive with no side effects; therefore can decrease use of chemical drugs with their obvious more side effects.

Introduction: Depression is a common psychiatric disorder in the community. The concept of depression understood from different words in Traditional Iranian resources. Explaining the concept of depression synonyms is essential for accurate diagnosis and treatment of related disorders.

Method: In this qualitative review, content of five depression synonyms including "Jazaa", "Hozn", "Khobse-Nafs", "Gham" and "Karb" has been analyzed by using of texts and dictionaries in Iranian Traditional Medicine, dictionaries references in era of Islamic civilization and recent books.

Results: In this part conceptions and definitions of each keywords was set (In compliance with the temporal series of resources) in a separate table.

Discussin and Conclusion: The results elucidates "Gham" which is source of other psychiatric disorders, is feeling of heart compression and wish something related to the last time that there is no possibility of achieving it. "Hozn" is a grief mood following the loss of a favorite that gradually increases over time. "Jazaa" is severe stage of "Hozn" that person be disappointed to his desire and therefore become impatient and intolerant (doing behaviors like slap in the face and screaming and ripping the collar.) "Karb" is increasing "Gham" or sadness that causes a feeling of pressure on the chest. "Khobse-Nafs" is an inner discomfort and psychological clogging without any obvious reason. In conclusion, the words in medical resources express physiological state and in dictionaries express psychological state.

Introduction: Developments in medical knowledge in the modern age are based on advancement of other sciences such as physics, chemistry and biology and subsequent new technologies. Although using these sciences has helped to identify biochemical mechanisms and metabolism, genetics, more accurate indicator and pathophysiology of diseases, but to understand the causes of diseases and therefore correct and effective treatment methods for them, less success has been achieved. The gap between biomedicine and its main roots which is called traditional or complementary medicine is the cause of failure to have safe and efficient treatment in conventional medicine. So, nowadays patients and healthcare providers around the world are calling for traditional medicine systems. The aim of this study is to evaluate the challenges arising from the neglect of ancestors' medicine and to introduce the integrated medicine as a right solution to improve public health.

Method: This paper reviews traditional medicine books, philosophy of medicine and medical futurism and the articles of both perspectives of traditional medicine and modern medical sciences to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches in the prevention and treatment of diseases.

Results: The effect of improved nutrition, environmental health, birth control, and improve the level of human body immunity in different communities on control of infectious diseases have been more than the effect of modern medical sciences. During the last decades various health based organizations such as World Health Organization try to determine the appropriate and complete health care methods from traditional medicine schools among different communities. These more effective and safer treatment methods in traditional medicine, are called alternative and complementary medicine. Since the traditional medical schools in the world, faced with public interest and also many studies have proven their effectiveness, nowadays, it is common to use the phrase "integrated medicine" even in the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) in USA.

Discussion & Conclusion: Integrative medicine provides an opportunity for scientists and public health officials to understand diseases, their causes and their mechanisms of creation more accurately. So they can introduce inexpensive, safer and more effective procedures to prevention and treatment of diseases.

Depression is a common disease that causes disability in affected people. Also it seems that conventional treatments have various side effects and patients face off recurrent relapse. As a fact prevention programs with focus on life style can reduce the prevalence of depression. Sadness that is one of the important Spiritual symptoms and descripted in Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM) as inner gradual movement of soul is one of the main diagnostic criteria of depression. In this literature review, the methods of prevention of depression based on health maintaining doctrine of ITM have been evaluated. Valid Traditional Iranian Medicine books and various data bases have been searched. Temperate and fresh weather is one of the basis which helps brain and heart to act their function better. Fast foods and inappropriate diet have a direct relationship with depression incidence.

Exhilarant herbs can treat depression. Moderate exercise, waste expulsion, good and suitable sleep and good sexual function are the most important criteria for prevention from depression. The emphasis of ITM on the role of prevention should be considered seriously.

Introduction: The pain of labor and its stress has caused an increasing tendency to delivery via caesarean. Using procedures and methods of decreasing the pain of labor can facilitate it and causes more tendencies toward natural childbirth. Traditional Persian Medicine’s (TPM) Physicians proposed and used some managements and medications to decrease childbirth pain.

Method: In this literature review research, we searched materia medicas that were used in reducing the pain of delivery (normal and non- normal) in nine reference books of TPM including: Almansoris (Rhazes), Al-Qanon (Avicenna), Al-Abnieh a Haghayegh al-Advieh, Zakhireye Kharazmshahi (Jorjani), Tohfeh al-Momenin. Teb e Akbari, Makhzan-Al’Advieh and Eksir A’azam, Mokhtasar tazkerate emam alsovidi Fit-teb. This work has been done in eight steps (finding the keywords, searching in the references, providing the single list, sorting out and deriving single things in compounds, concluding, scoring and categorizing).

Results: Eighty one materia medicas have been found that 6 of them (Castoreum, Donkeys hoof, the Stone of "Magnet", Crocus sativus, Opopanax chironium, Ferula gummosa,) obtained the highest scores. Fifty-one materia medicas in dystocia treatment, 27 in delivery, 1 in reducing the pain of child birth and 1 in expedite of delivery had been proposed.

Discussin and Conclusion: Although it is not concluded that these materia medicas are the best choices, it can mean that they have been used more commonly in the centuries of 10 to 20 AD in TPM for facilitating labor. This result can be used as choices for clinical researches.