A review of the effects of medicinal plants on Gastrointestinal symptoms caused by primary dysmenorrhea in Iran: a review article

Introduction: Primary dysmenorrhea and its Systematic symptoms especially gastrointestinal, is one of the most common problems of women, especially young women, although primary dysmenorrhea is not life-threatening, it affects women's quality of life and in severe cases causes disability and inefficiency. Many treatments have been proposed considering the young population affected by it, one of which is the use of medicinal plants. Methodology: The present study is a review study. Information about the effect of medicinal plants on primary dysmenorrhea was searched from MedLib, Magiran, Google scholar, Scopus, Iran Medex, SID and PubMed databases without time limit. Articles were searched with the Persian and English keywords of dysmenorrhea, medicinal herbs, painful menstruation, clinical trial, and gastrointestinal symptoms with dysmenorrhea. the study based on the Jadad criterion, articles that scored ۳ or more were included in the study. Findings: In this study, ۸ different types of medicinal plants such as fennel, cinnamon, Stachys lavandulifolia, ginger, chamomile, Valerian and fenugreek were investigated in ۸ clinical trial studies that had inclusion criteria. Most of the medicinal plants reviewed in the articles have flavonoid compounds with anti-inflammatory, analgesic properties and had a favorable effect in relieving the gastrointestinal symptoms of dysmenorrhea. Conclusion: According to the fact that among the investigated plants, two articles with acceptable validity and positive results have investigated the medicinal plant cinnamon, so this plant can be used with more confidence in relieving the gastrointestinal symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea, but for all the mentioned plants, it is necessary to further research.

کلیدواژه ها:

dysmenorrhea ، clinical trial ، medicinal plants ، Systematic symptoms of dysmenorrhea ، gastrointestinal symptoms of dysmenorrhea