The Effects of Herbal Medicines on Women Sexual Dysfunction: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Sexual health plays an important role in women's health and quality of life. Sexual health management is a prerequisite for physical and psychological health of women. Sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm are three factors of female sexual response. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at the evaluation of the studies focusing on herbal medicine on women's sexual function and the assessment of its effectiveness. METHODS: So far, many different methods have been known for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction, however, none of them are not efficacious therapy. RESULTS: Generally, the use of herbal medicine is a safe and effective therapeutic method in the treatment of women with sexual dysfunction. CONCLUSION: The role of herbal and nutritional supplementation in female sexual function has attracted researchers' interest in recent years.

Herbal medicines for suppressing appetite: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

The suppression of appetite with herbal medicines has become very popular in recent years. We conducted this systematic review to evaluate the recent scientific evidence regarding herbal medicines that are used to suppress appetite. We retrieved clinical trials from PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Scientific Information Database, and IranMedex from January 1, 2013 to April 24, 2018. English and Persian language randomized clinical trials that used herbal medicines to suppress appetite in healthy or obese or overweight individuals were included. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane methodology. Out of 591 articles, 22 trials with 973 participants were included. One study on the Meratrim formulation which contained the Sphaeranthus indicus flower heads extract and Garcinia mangostana fruit, revealed longer-term evidence; while 6 studies on Ilex paraguariensis, Spinacia oleracea, Phaseolus vulgaris, Secale cereale, Sorghum bicolor and Plantago showed short-term evidence for suppressing appetite. No serious adverse events were reported. Despite some methodological concerns in the included studies, there is promising evidence for suppressing appetite with herbal medicines that needs to be confirmed in long-term clinical trials with adequate sample size and higher methodological quality with more attention to safety, effective dose and side effects.

Effect of a functional food (vegetable soup) on blood rheology in patients with polycythemia.

OBJECTIVE: Key hemorheological variables are associated with several life-threatening diseases including cardio-cerebro-vascular diseases. A diet can influence the blood rheological variables. To compare the effectiveness of a vegetable soup on blood viscosity (BV), hematocrit (Hct), plasma fibrinogen, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar (FBS), and blood osmolarity in patients with polycythemia in comparison to a control group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized controlled trial study was conducted at Isar health clinics in Mashhad, Iran, during a 7-month period. Forty male participants (35 to 60 years old) with polycythemia, but without underlying diseases, were included. They randomly assigned to two groups and either received diet/phlebotomy or phlebotomy alone, for 6 weeks. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 using parametric tests. RESULTS: A significant reduction in BV at 30s (p ≤ 0.001), BV at 40s (p ≤ 0.001), BV at 50s (p ≤ 0.001), Hct (p ≤ 0.001), plasma fibrinogen (p ≤ 0.001), total cholesterol (p<0.01), LDL-cholesterol (p<0.01), VLDL-cholesterol (p ≤ 0.001), HDL-cholesterol (p ≤ 0.01), osmolarity (p ≤ 0.001), and FBS (p ≤ 0.001) was observed in diet recipients. Following the intervention, there was a significant decrease in triglyceride (intervention group, p<0.05; control group, p<0.05), in both groups. CONCLUSION: This trial showed that the plant-based food used in this study could improve blood rheology.

Effect of diet on blood viscosity in healthy humans: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Increased whole blood viscosity is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality of several life-threatening diseases, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. The effect of diet on human health has been indicated in many studies, and a health dietary pattern can reduce the incidence of several chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the effect of diet on blood viscosity and related parameters such as haematocrit (HCT). METHODS: This systematic review was carried out in 2017. MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from inception to 2 May 2017. We selected and included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in the study. The inclusion criteria were articles that describe the effect of any types of local and traditional diet on blood viscosity in apparently healthy individuals. RESULTS: Three randomized controlled trials were included in this systematic review. Different diets were used in the included trials. In one study, ingested dried-bonito broth (DBB) for four weeks, significantly reduced the blood passage time in the intervention group from 55.4±3.4 to 47.6±2.0 sec (mean ± SEM, p<0.05) compared with no significant change in the placebo group. Another study has shown significantly increased blood fluidity score in a vegetarian group in contrast to the control group after six weeks. In the last study, plasma viscosity was significantly decreased in a group which used onion-olive-oil capsules compared to the placebo group, with a highly significant difference between the two groups (p=0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: Our components of food diets may decrease blood viscosity in health status. Better and expanded methodology may improve our results.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials with herbal medicine on chronic rhinosinusitis.

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common disease with evidence to show that its incidence and prevalence are increasing. Medicinal plants are commonly used to treat CRS. This systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of herbal preparations for treatment of the patients with CRS. Cochran, Embase, ISI, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched until August 1, 2016. Only randomized controlled trials were included. Four randomized controlled trials were included in this systematic review. Various medicinal plants were studied in each article. Inclusion and exclusion criteria, and outcome measures varied among different articles. The results of this trials showed that this special medicinal plants may be effective in the treatment of CRS. No serious reactions were reported during the administration of herbal remedies in the 4 studies. However, trials with a well-designed approach are needed to study the actual safety and efficacy of herbs in the treatment of CRS.

Herbal Medicines in Idiopathic Heavy Menstrual Bleeding: A Systematic Review.

Idiopathic heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB; IHMB) is a common gynecological problem with no pelvic pathology or general bleeding disorder. Herbal remedies are commonly used to treat HMB. This systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of herbal preparations for the treatment of IHMB. MEDLINE, Ovid, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from inception to 23 August 2015. Only randomized controlled trials were considered. Three randomized controlled trials were included in this systematic review. Different herbal preparations were used in the included trials. In two studies, Ginger capsules and myrtle fruit syrup significantly reduced the menstrual duration and blood loss compared with placebo based on the pictorial blood loss assessment chart score (p < 0.001, p = 0.01). In another trial, Punica granatum flower capsules were as effective as tranexamic acid capsules in reducing the mean (SD) pictorial blood loss assessment chart score, with no significant difference between the two treatments (p = 0.3). The results show that the methods used in these trials may reduce menstrual bleeding in women with IHMB. Additional well-designed trials are needed to investigate the safety and efficacy of herbs for the treatment of women with IHMB or other forms of HMB.