Journal of Integrative Medicine 2018;16(2):90-98

doi:10.1016/j.joim.2018.01.002

Traditional and modern aspects of hemorrhoid treatment in Iran: a review.

Sahar DEHDARI 1 ; Homa HAJIMEHDIPOOR 2 ; Somayeh ESMAEILI 3 ; Rasool CHOOPANI 4 ; Seyed Alireza MORTAZAVI 5

Affiliations

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Keywords

Clinical study; Hemorrhoids; In vitro; In vivo; Iranian traditional medicine; Plants

Country

China

Language

English

Abstract

Hemorrhoidal disease is a prevalent anorectal condition which is generally not managed well with current pharmacologic interventions. However, in Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) there are numerous plants with hemorrhoid-healing properties. The present research assembled plants with hemorrhoid-healing properties in ITM; their related pharmacological effects, phytochemical constituents and mechanisms of action in the modern medicine were also gathered. For this purpose, leading ITM textbooks were searched for plants with hemorrhoid-healing effects. Further, in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies on the most cited species were considered using scientific databases. Studying ITM textbooks revealed 37 medicinal plants with hemorrhoid-healing effects. Among the mentioned herbal medicines, six species, including Allium ampeloprasum, Phyllanthus emblica, Aloe vera, Terminalia chebula, Vitis vinifera and Commiphora mukul, had the largest number of related pharmacological effects documented in scientific databases. These herbs from ITM should be considered as important resources for producing novel drugs for hemorrhoid treatment.