Traditional Persian medicine is based on humoral medical concepts. In the case of abundant blood in the body, tabi'at (body nature) deals with this imbalance by elimination of the morbid substances via some controlling mechanisms. If tabi'at could not react properly, the physician should prescribe an intervention to let the extra blood out. This can be done through phlebotomy, wet cupping, and the use of leech or scarification of the ears. Cupping with scarification may eliminate the morbid substance through the scarified skin, and cupping without scarification evacuates the morbid materials from the compromised organs. Wet cupping in health state is meant to be applied for preventing the blood humor dominance in susceptible individuals. In disease condition, wet cupping is defined as a treatment in which the patients confront the abundance of blood. Wet cupping may have harmful complications in extremely thin or obese patients. Wet cupping should be postponed in patients compromised by diseases especially in the thick phlegm abundance. In Asia, Iranian people, because of religious beliefs, are very interested in cupping therapy. Many unsupervised cupping procedures are performed in Iran, whereas benefits and risks of these procedures are undetermined by providers and clients. In this study, the most important indications and contraindications of wet cupping have been reviewed based on the traditional Persian medicine resources.
Introduction
Many patients with chronic diseases often use traditional medicine, as well as conventional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological factors of patients with dermatological conditions referring to traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) clinic.
Materials and Methods
In this cross‐sectional study, we reviewed all the patients’ medical documents, from March 2018 to March 2019, with dermatological conditions referred to the TPM clinic at Shiraz, Southern Iran. Then, the epidemiological factors of the patients were recorded in a researcher‐made data collection form. SPSS software version 22 was used to analyse the data.
Results
Overall, 631 patients consisting of 151 (23.9%) males and 580 (76.1%) females were enrolled in the study. Most of the patients were aged from 31 to 40 years, 347 (55%) patients were married, and most of them were housewives. The frequency of patients in the spring was higher than in other seasons. Furthermore, most of the patients were university educated. Acne, eczema and hair loss were the three most complaints of the patients who were referred to the traditional medicine clinic. 301(47.7%) patients reported gastrointestinal problems as another complaint concomitant with their skin problems.
Conclusion
It seems that women with skin problems, including acne, eczema, and hair loss, were more likely to refer to the TPM clinic. Therefore, the development of TPM clinics in the dermatology field as a scientific and academic approach can be effective in the treatment of patients with dermatological conditions accompanied by traditional medicine.
Ma'aljobon, a handmade substance, is the liquid portion of coagulated milk after adding vinegar to the heated milk. In traditional Persian medicine (TPM) it has been known as a useful remedy for the treatment of some skin disorders. The aim of this study was to review the applications of Ma'aljobon for skin diseases according to the sages of TPM and modern medicine. Main TPM sources were reviewed with the keyword of "Ma'aljobon." Furthermore, electronic databases including Scopus, PubMed, SID, and Google Scholar were searched with the keyword "Whey protein" during 2000 to 2018. According to TPM sources, Ma'aljobon was used by Iranian sages as a safe and effective remedy to treat a wide range of skin diseases, such as pimples, and ulcers. Meantime, recent evidence has also shown the effectiveness of whey protein in treating some skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis. Gastrointestinal discomfort was the most adverse effect of Ma'aljobon mentioned in TPM sources. In conclusion, there were several applications for Ma'aljobon in treatment of dermatologic disease according to TPM, as well as modern medicine. These finding could be the basis of future clinical trials on the effects of Ma'aljobon in the treatment of skin problems.
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