A review of prevention and adjuvant therapy in acute respiratory syndrome caused by covid-19 from the perspective of persian medicine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and quickly became a global pandemic. According to studies, traditional medicine interventions along with conventional medicine protocols have been reported to be effective in prevention and treatment. The aim of this study was to summarize the recommendations of Persian medicine based on evidence in the prevention and treatment of symptoms of acute respiratory syndrome. METHODS: In this review article, keywords related to the symptoms of COVID-19 in Persian medicine sources, review and items related to the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory syndrome were extracted. Individual items with the keywords "Influenza" or "SARS" or "MERS" or "COVID-19" or "Coronavirus" or "Antiviral" or "Anti-inflammatory" or "Immune system" or "Antioxidant" were searched in the databases SID, Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane, Web of science, Science direct, and Google scholar, and finally those with scientific evidence were presented in the form of auxiliary instructions for prevention and treatment. FINDINGS: A significant part of the recommendations of Persian medicine to prevent or control the symptoms of acute respiratory syndrome has practical clinical evidence. These include social distance, avoiding heavy meals, and using herbal remedies according to the specific conditions of the patients. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, the use of simple strategies of Persian medicine in preventing and improving the symptoms of acute respiratory syndrome caused by COVID-19 along with common medicine protocols, can help control the epidemic conditions. Also, many of these recommendations can be evaluated as useful research ideas in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. © 2021, Babol University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Sinusitis and the related remedies in Persian medicine

Sinusitis is a very common inflammatory disorder that is associated with high healthcare spending and impairs life quality. Thus, in this review study, we aimed at discussing the standpoints on its diagnosis, pathophysiology, medication, and perspective management according to Persian Medicine (PM). To this goal, the studies on sinusitis were collected from the selected medical and pharmaceutical textbooks of PM to be then analyzed. A search on databases as Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus was also performed to reconfirm the Anti-inflammatory and Antimicrobial activity of reported herbs. In PM, the term Nazleh and Zokam (NaZ) was used to describe what is now named as sinusitis. It was reported that NaZ contained the substances secreted from paranasal sinuses (Botoun-e-Demaghy). Etiologically, NaZ is classified into warm and cold types. Comparing the symptoms, warm NaZ resembles Allergic rhinitis or acute episode of common cold and cold NaZ is similar to acute/chronic episode of rhinosinusitis. Based on the PM management of this disorder, modification of life style was recommended besides observing the basic treatment rules by using pharmacotherapy and following some simple manipulations. In this review, we tried to explain the medieval scientists’ intervention methods for sinusitis based on their knowledge. © 2018, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR). All rights reserved

Effect of oregano oil (Origanum vulgare l.) on chronic rhinosinusitis: A randomized, double-blind, clinical trial

According to new investigations, oregano oil nasal spray can be used to treat patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) effectively. The current study examines the incremental effect of oregano oil and the use of Persian medicine lifestyle modification (PML). 75 adult patients with CRS participated in this study; the clinical trial was done in Otolaryngology Clinic of the Fifth Azar Hospital from January 30 to June 25, 2018. A kit including saline bottle, identical PML instruction, and identical nasal sprays containing either oregano oil (intervention group), fluticasone (control group) or sesame oil (placebo group) was given to all participants for 4 weeks. The reduction of mean change in SNOT-22 scores were 51.52 (95 CI,-55.79 to-47.24), 21.60 (95 CI,-25.48 to-17.71) and 11.84 (95 CI,-13.18 to-10.51) points for those in the oregano, fluticasone and placebo group, respectively. The mean difference of oregano to fluticasone and oregano to placebo group were 29.92 (-35.78 to-24.05) to 39.68 (-45.54 to-33.81) point, respectively, in favor of the oregano group. This study shows that oregano oil results in clinically meaningful benefits beyond those of fluticasone and sesame oil for patients with CRS without nasal polyps. Nonetheless, its generalization should be explored further. © 2020, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR). All rights reserved

Effect of Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia L.) syrup on olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 infection: A pilot controlled clinical trial

Objective: The effect of lavender syrup on COVID-19-induced olfactory dysfunction (OD) has been assessed in this study. Materials and Methods: This pilot clinical trial was conducted in Gonbad-E-Kavoos (Golestan province, Iran). Twenty-three outpatients with COVID-19 and OD in lavender group took 9 ml of lavender syrup/bid for 3 weeks along with the standard COVID-19 treatments and 20 patients in control group took only standard COVID-19 treatments. The severity of OD was assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS). Data analysis was performed by Friedman and Mann-Whitney tests using SPSS software. Results: The mean± standard deviation of age was 36.6±9.1, and 42.6±10.4 years (p=0.05), and the duration of symptoms was 7.4±3.5, and 7.5±3.4 days (p=0.98) in the lavender and control group, respectively. The VAS score for OD decreased from 6.8±3.04 to 0.26±0.86 in the lavender group and from 5.3±3.4 to 1±2.61 in the control group. Although, VAS for OD was significantly decreased in both groups (p<0.001), the amount of VAS decrease was 6.6±2.9 scores in the lavender group, and 4.3±4 in the control group (p=0.03). No side effects were observed in the lavender group. Conclusion: The present study showed that lavender syrup is an effective treatment for COVID-19-induced OD. It is suggested to conduct further studies with larger sample size. © 2022 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

The Efficacy of Vaginal Suppository Based on Alcea angulata Freyn & Sint. (A Persian Medicine Product) in Patients with Vaginal Atrophy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Vaginal atrophy is one of the most common complaints in postmenopausal women. Symptoms of vaginal atrophy include dryness, itching, bleeding, and dyspareunia. According to Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM), the using of moisturizing plants can treat dry mucous membranes. TPM suggests the use of marshmallow (Alcea angulata) to moisturize dry mucus with its mucilage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Alcea on the treatment of vaginal atrophy. This double-blind, clinical trial was conducted on 60 postmenopausal women with vaginal atrophy (40 - 65 years of age). The patients were randomly assigned into two groups of treatment and control (n = 30). The treatment group received Alcea vaginal suppository 5 (125 mg), and the control group received placebo. Both groups used suppositories every night for two weeks and every other night for six weeks. Vaginal Maturation Value (VMV), symptoms of vaginal atrophy, and pH were compared before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16. VMV was increased in the treatment group, from 40.30 ±13.27 to 46.40 ± 11.27, (p < 0.0001) compared to the control group, in which the change of VMV was not significant (p < 0.122). The vaginal pH was significantly decreased in the treatment group, from 6.45 ± 0.92 to 5.52 ± 0.62, (p < 0.0001) compared to the control group, in which the change of pH was not significant (p < 0.257). The symptoms were significantly reduced in the treatment group. It seems that Alcea vaginal suppository can be useful as a natural product to relieve the symptoms of vaginal atrophy. © 2022 Nickan Research Institute. All rights reserved

The Effects of Aromatherapy on Premenstrual Syndrome Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

ObjectivesPremenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a common disturbance among women of childbearing age. Aromatherapy is a commonly used form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat PMS. The purpose of this study is to quantify and summarize the effects of aromatherapy on premenstrual syndrome symptoms. Methods. PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases were searched through relevant search terms until October 2020. The effect sizes were pooled as weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95 confidence interval (CI) using the random effect model. Egger tests and visual inspection of the funnel plot were performed to identify the existence of publication bias. The I-squared (I2) test was applied to measure heterogeneity. Results. Eight studies (n = 8) were included in this analysis. The quantitative synthesis of evidence found that aromatherapy decreases PMS scores (WMD -13.83; 95 CI (-22.04, -5.63), I2 = 94.5), total psychological symptoms of PMS (WMD -3.51; 95 CI (-4.84, -2.18), I2 = 82.6), anxiety of PMS (WMD-1.78; 95 CI (-3.17, -0.38), I2 = 94.2), depression of PMS (WMD-2.0; 95 CI (-3.65, -0.34), I2 = 93.7), and fatigue of PMS (WMD - 1.44; 95 CI (-2.44, -0.44), I2 = 89.7) compared to the control group. Conclusion. Aromatherapy is an effective tool for the relief of PMS symptoms. Additional randomized controlled clinical trials with different durations and essential oils should be conducted to confirm our findings. © 2020 Somayeh Es-haghee et al