Al-hijamah (wet cupping therapy of prophetic medicine) significantly and safely reduces iron overload and oxidative stress in thalassemic children: a novel pilot study.
J Blood Med
; 9: 241-251, 2018.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30588142
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Thalassemia is a major health problem due to iron overload, iron deposition and oxidative stress-induced tissue damage. Here, we introduce Al-hijamah (a minor surgical excretory procedure) as a novel percutaneous iron excretion therapy. Al-hijamah is a wet cupping therapy of prophetic medicine, and prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, strongly recommended Al-hijamah, saying "The best of your treatment is Al-hijamah". AIM OF THE STUDY Our study aimed at investigating the safety, iron chelation, pharmacological potentiation and oxidant clearance effects exerted by Al-hijamah to thalassemic children. PATIENTS ANDMETHODS:
Ethical committee's approval and patients' written agreement consents were obtained. We treated 20 thalassemic children (15 males and five females aged 9.07±4.26 years) with iron chelation therapy (ICT) plus Al-hijamah (using sterile disposable sets and in a complete aseptic environment) vs a control group treated with ICT only. This clinical trial was registered in the ClinicalTrial.gov registry under the name "Study of the Therapeutic Benefits of Al-hijamah in Children with Beta Thalassemia Major" (identifier no NCT 02761395) on 30 January 2016.RESULTS:
Al-hijamah was quite simple, safe, effective, tolerable (with no side effects) and time-saving procedure (30-60 minutes). A single session of Al-hijamah significantly reduced iron overload (P<0.001) in all thalassemic children. Al-hijamah significantly decreased serum ferritin by 25.22% (from 3,778.350±551.633 ng/mL to 2,825.300±558.94 ng/mL), significantly decreased oxidative stress by 68.69% (P<0.05; serum malondialdehyde dropped from 42.155±12.42 to 13.195±0.68 nmol/L), exerted pharmacological potentiation to ICT and significantly increased total antioxidant capacity (P<0.001) by 260.95% (from 13.195±0.68 nmol/L to 42.86±12.40 nmol/L through excreting reactive oxygen species). Moreover, therapeutic indices for evaluating Al-hijamah were promising.CONCLUSION:
Al-hijamah is a novel, safe, effective percutaneous iron excretion therapy through percutaneous iron excretion with minimal blood loss in agreement with the evidence-based Taibah mechanism. Al-hijamah is an effective outpatient hematological procedure that is safer than many pediatric procedures such as catheterization, hemofiltration and dialysis. Increasing the number of cups during Al-hijamah session or the number of sessions reduces iron overload more strongly. Medical practice of Al-hijamah is strongly recommended in hospitals.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Aspecto:
Ethics
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Blood Med
Año:
2018
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
NEW ZEALAND
/
NOVA ZELÂNDIA
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NUEVA ZELANDA
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NZ