Uterine Bleeding Disorders from the Perspective of Iranian Traditional Medicine; A Proof for Originality of Individual-Based Medicine in Iranian Traditional Medicine

Abstract

One of the most important problems of women in their reproductive age is menstrual disorders and vaginal bleedings. The prevalence rate of these bleedings among women referring to gynecology clinics has been reported to be 19.1%. Treatment of these disorders in modern medicine includes hormone therapy accompanied with medicinal supplements. Iranian medicine, as a humor-based medicine school, has a specific view about the classification of causing factors of these disorders. This library study was done to investigate the causes of abnormal vaginal bleedings from the perspective of Iranian medicine through reviewing the available texts and references of Iranian traditional medicine. In Iranian medicine books, efrat-e tams (hypermenorrhea) has been classified to two general types of normal and abnormal. In normal type, due to the great amount of blood, the nature decides to exit that from a natural exit such as uterine. The abnormal type is divided into two subtypes; the first, is related to the problems in the quantity or quality of the patient's blood and the second type is due to the problem in the uterine that causes blood loss. It seems that attention to the causes of diseases from the perspective of Iranian medicine opens a new perspective in the treatment of menstrual disorders for modern physicians. Studying these causes, beside whatever is known in modern medicine about control of menstrual disorders, can help us for a better treatment with fewer complications.