A Double-blind, Randomized Clinical Trial Study of Plantago major l. Syrup on Menorrhagia

Abstract

Objective: Menorrhagia is a common and costly complaint of patients in gynecology. Plantago major L. (P.major) is one of the herbal remedies recommended by Persian medicine for menorrhagia. Materials and methods: In this study, women with menorrhagia who did not have abnormal findings in para-clinical evaluation, were divided into two groups: herbal drug (P.major syrup) and placebo (simple syrup). After one cycle, menstrual blood loss based on Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart (PBAC), menstrual duration, hemoglobin and hematocrit were assessed in both groups. Results: 65 patients completed the study. In the herbal drug group, menstrual blood loss and menstrual duration decreased from 205.5 ± 8.38 to 185.03 ± 12.30 (P< 0.001) and from 8.30 ± 0.85 to 7.68 ± 1.62 (P= 0.003), respectively. Although the difference between groups in terms of blood loss in the baseline was not significant, it became significant after intervention (P< 0.001). Also, after intervention hemoglobin and hematocrit were significantly increased from 11.82 ± 0.39 to 11.99 ± 0.20 and from 35.47 ± 1.18 to 35.69 ± 1.32 resp. (P< 0.001) in herbal drug group, however they were decreased significantly in placebo group. No adverse effects were reported after using the herbal drug. Conclusions: P.major may be a good candidate for further study to be considered as a safe and effective remedy for menorrhagia.