Knowledge, attitude and practice of herbal remedies in a group of infertile couples

The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of herbal remedies [HRs] in infertile patients. This was a cross sectional study in a referral infertility care center. Three hundred and six outpatients, both women and men, presenting for the first time with complaint of infertility at Arash hospital, were recruited. Verbal consent for participation was received. A self administered questionnaire was used. Main outcome measure was knowledge, attitude and practice of patients toward herbal medications. 47.3% of participants were knowledgeable of HRs with female gender and lower educational background being the associated factors in knowledge. 43.4% of patients with significant female dominancy had positive attitude toward HRs. 31% of participants were using HRs. Only 3.2% of those using HRs informed their physician. The most common health condition promoting herbal use was psychological [33.3%] and gastrointestinal [30.8%] disorders. 3.5% of participants used HRs as fertility treatment which was significantly observed in women and those with lower levels of formal education. A considerable proportion of our population had used HRs without sufficient knowledge and had positive attitude toward HRs. More importantly, patients did not disclose their use of HRs to physicians. Therefore, physicians should inquire about the use of alternative remedies and provide patients with appropriate information

Femicomfort in the treatment of premenstrual syndromes: a double-blind, randomized and placebo controlled trial

Premenstrual syndromes [PMS] affecting 20-40% of women of reproductive age. The aim of this double blind and placebo controlled trial was to investigate whether femicofort a supplement contains Vitamin B6, Vitamin E and evening primrose oil could relieve symptoms of PMS. This was a randomized and double blind clinical trial. The trial was conducted between November 2009 and April March 2010. Women aged 20 to 45 years with regular menstrual cycles and experience of PMS symptoms [According to the current diagnostic criteria proposed by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology] for at least 6 months were eligible for the study. Patients were randomized to receive femicomfort or placebo in a 1: 1 ratio using a computer-generated code. The assignments were kept in sealed, opaque envelopes until the point of analysis of data. In this double-blind, patients were randomly assigned to receive capsule of femicomfort [Group A] or capsule placebo for two menstrual cycles [cycles 3 and 4]. The primary outcome measure was the Daily Symptom Report, a checklist of 17 premenstrual symptoms rated from 0 to 4 according to their severity throughout the menstrual cycle. Secondary outcome measure was Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [17-item]. Femicomfort at this dose was found to be effective in relieving symptoms of PMS. The difference between the femicomfort and placebo in the frequency of side effects was not significant. The results of this study indicate the efficacy of femicomfort in the treatment of PMS