Comparison between complementary dietary treatments of metabolic syndrome in Persian medicine and modern medicine

Background: Metabolic syndrome (Mets) is defined as a complex metabolic disorder with disturbance of glucose metabolism (insulin resistance, high blood glucose, and impaired glucose tolerance), central obesity and being overweight, abnormalities in serum lipid levels, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. The treatments for Mets is an important medical challenge. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the treatment of Mets in Persian and modern medicine. Methods: For this purpose, we evaluated the medicinal plants that affect the Mets, as well as the medications used in modern medicine to treat Mets. Result: In modern medicine the treatment is usually a combination of life style modifications and multidrugdiet. Many patients have a low tolerance and may even leave the treatment, as well as the risk of drugdrug interactions may increase in these treatment regimen. In addition, the cost of these treatment is often very high. Treatments may include anti-hyperlipidemia medications such as statins and/or fenofibrate; antiblood pressure medications such as ACEI, CCB and/or a mixed alpha-beta-blocker; anti-diabeticmedications such as sulfonylureas and/or thiazolidinediones; antiplatelet like aspirin. Occasionally, these supplements may also accompanied by appetite suppressants and antioxidant supplements. Therefore, a simple and cost-effective treatment or even pretreatment could be very beneficial. Recently, studies and researches on medicinal plants have greatly increased with the establishment of Persian TraditionalMedicine schools. On the other hand, due to the economic conditions of the country and the high cost of drugs and raw materials, it is very important to have a low-cost treatment that is completely native.Medicinal plants have been in the center of attention for the following: their potential effect in improvingand maintaining human health, low side effects, and low costs for thousands of years. These days, plantsare regarded as a valuable source to treat the various components of MetS including obesity, hyperglycemia,hypertension, and dyslipidemia. For instance, cinnamon, garlic, grape, black cumin, rosemary, avocado,saffron, and … have shown promising effects on different symptoms of MetS. Conclusion: Herbalmedicines showed therapeutic effects on regulating waist circumference, blood glucose, blood lipids, andblood pressure in this systematic review. This means herbal medicines have the potential to becomplementary and alternative medicines for MetS. The use of an Iranian native medicinal plant instead ofa multi-drug treatment that mentioned above causes greatly reducing the cost of treatment, improves patientcooperation and reduces the chance of drug interactions and side effects.

کلیدواژه ها:

Persian medicine ، traditional medicine ، metabolic ، syndrome ، foods ، herbs