ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Freckles are numerous pigmented spots of the skin, mainly confined to the face, even arms and back. Although freckles are light-brown macules, most frequently observed in individuals with red or blond hair, they are common to Asian people too. Freckles increase in number, size, and depth of pigmentation during the summer months. Histologically, freckles show increased production of melanin pigment by a normal number of melanocytes. Freckles commonly stop spreading before adolescence and last for life, but could sometimes be subtle in adulthood. Treatments are often requested for cosmetic purposes. Before the advent of lasers, treatment modalities for pigmentary disorders included surgical excision, dermabrasion, chemical bleaching, and peeling. These treatments may lead to unwanted side effects of potential scarring or undesired pigmentation changes. In Iranian traditional medicine (ITM), freckles have been known as well. "Namash" was the term used by ITM scholars to indicate freckles. There is a wide range of plants, which were prescribed by Iranian physicians for the treatment of freckles. The purpose of this study is to find the most frequent useful herbs for freckles as mentioned in ITM references. METHODS: Seven ITM references were studied for anti-freckles medicines. The references were Canon of Medicine (Avicenna), Alhavi (Razes) Tuhfat ul-Momineen (Momen tonekaboni), Makhzan-ul-Adwiah (Aghili), Ikhtiyarat Badi'i (Ansari), Al-abnia An-Haghyegh el-advia (Heravi), and al-jami li-mufradat al-adwiyawa al-aghdhiya (Ibn al-Baitar). Moreover, plants were ordered according to their repetition in the references. Afterwards, traditional names of the selected plants were matched with the scientific names using botanical text references. RESULTS: This study demonstrated that Myristica fragrans Houtt, Cicer arietema L., Eruca sativa Lam., Lilium candidium L., Amygdalus communis L., Arum italicum L. were the most frequent herbs mentioned in ITM references for the treatment of freckles. CONCLUSION: Herbs mentioned in this article could be appropriate candidates for future studies in the field of freckles treatment.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Alopecia areata (AA) is a common immune-mediated hair loss disorder. AA has a reported incidence of 0.1-0.2% with a lifetime risk of 1.7%. Histologically, AA is characterized by the accumulation of mononuclear cells around the bulb of the affected hair follicles. Corticosteroids are the most popular drugs for the treatment of this disease. Despite its high prevalence, currently available treatments are mostly unsatisfactory and inefficient for the more chronic and severe types of the AA. Alopecia areata is a well-known disorder in Iranian traditional medicine (ITM). "Da oth-tha,lab" was the term used by ITM scholars to indicate AA. Traditional Iranian physicians believed that the presence of morbid matter in the scalps is the main cause of the disease, which blocks nutrients and causes hair roots to deteriorate. Herbal medicines in the form of topical preparations were applied by ITM scholars for the treatment of AA. This study was performed to determine the most frequent useful herbs for AA as mentioned in ITM. METHODS: Seven ITM references such as Canon of Medicine (Avicenna), Alhavi (Razes) Tuhfat ul-Momineen (Mo,men tonekaboni), Makhzan-ul-Adwiah (Aghili), Ikhtiyarat Badi,i (Ansari), Al-abnia An-Haghyegh el-advia (Heravi) and al-jami li-mufradat al-adwiyawa al-aghdhiya (Ibn al-Baitar) were studied for anti-AA medicines. Subsequent to our study, the herbal medicines were listed and scored based on the frequency of their prescriptibility. Moreover, we took the effort to provide the best scientific name for each plant. RESULTS: This study showed that Allium cepa L., Artemisia abrotonon L., Allium sativum L., and Asphodelus ramosus L. were the most frequent herbs mentioned in ITM references for the recovery of AA. CONCLUSION: These herbs can be introduced as new herbal medicines for clinical research in the field of alopecia areata treatment.
