Abstract
Iran has a rich and diverse cultural heritage, consisting of a complex traditional medicine deeply rooted in the history of the territory that goes back to the Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations. The ethnomedical practices that can be identifiable nowadays derive from the experience of local people who have developed remedies against a wide range of diseases handing down the knowledge from generation to generation over the millennia. Traditional medicine practices represent an important source of inspiration in the process of the development of new drugs and therapeutic strategies. In this context, it is useful to determine the state of the art of ethnomedical studies, concerning the Iranian territory, and of scientific studies on plants used in traditional Iranian medicine. Data regarding 245 plants used in Iranian ethnomedical practices and scientific studies conducted on 89 plants collected in the Iranian territory have been reported. All of the scientific studies here reported draw inspiration from traditional medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly called for an intensification of the scientific validation processes of traditional medicines intended as an important contribution to public health in various parts of the world. The process of study and validation of Iranian ethnomedical practices appears to be at an early stage.
Highlights
Traditional medicine practices represent an important and often underestimated part of healthcare around the world
The ethnomedical practices that can be identifiable nowadays derive from the experience of local people who have developed remedies against a wide range of diseases handing down the knowledge from generation to generation over the millennia
Data regarding 245 plants used in Iranian ethnomedical practices and scientific studies conducted on 89 plants collected in the Iranian territory have been reported
Summary
Traditional medicine practices represent an important and often underestimated part of healthcare around the world. A great number of lifesaving therapeutic assets belonging to modern medicine and new active compounds are derived from traditional knowledge and traditional uses of plants. The awareness of this fact led to the drawing up of the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on Traditional Medicine (WHA62.13) and the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2002–2005 and 2014–2023. These documents aim to integrate at the international level national healthcare systems with traditional knowledge and practices through an assessment of safety, efficacy, and quality of the treatments.
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