Herbal, Animal and Mineral Remedies in Burn Wound: a review of Persian Traditional Medicine literature

Abstract

Background: Burn wound is one of the most common injuries worldwide. However, its management still remains a health concern and research is ongoing for more efficient therapies. Persian medicine has described different methods in this regard. Previous reviews have mostly focused on the herbal-based therapies for burn management. Hence, the current study aimed to review both non-herbal and herbal-based therapies used in Persian medicine for their burn healing properties, and to compare them with new evidence.Method: The most important texts of Persian medicine were reviewed for burn wound classification, managements and treatment approaches. Moreover, herbal, minerals, and animal-based products claimed to possess burn wound healing activity, were extracted. In the next step, digital databases were searched to find new supporting data for the extracted-traditional remedies and their healing mechanisms.Results: More than one hundred traditional medicinal herbs, minerals, and animal-based products have been recommended to treat burn wound in Persian medicine among them, the healing effect of thirty-five herbs and eight non-herbal treatments (mineral and animal-based compounds) were supported by new evidence. Otherwise, there was not new evidence reporting the healing effect of seventy-three herbs and sixteen non-herbal compounds extracted from Persian Medicine literature.Conclusion: Although some managements of burn wounds in Persian medicine have been confirmed by new evidence, the efficacy of a plenty of materials needs to be methodically evaluated. Hence, it could introduce new clues for future research.