Efficacy of Viola odorata in Treatment of Chronic Insomnia

Zohre Feyzabadi; Farhad Jafari; Seyed Hamid Kamali; Hassan Ashayeri; Shapour Badiee Aval; Mohammad Mahdi Esfahani; Omid Sadeghpour

doi:10.5812/ircmj.17511

Efficacy of Viola odorata in Treatment of Chronic Insomnia

Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2014 Dec 14;16(12):e17511. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.17511. eCollection 2014 Dec.

Authors

Zohre Feyzabadi¹, Farhad Jafari², Seyed Hamid Kamali³, Hassan Ashayeri⁴, Shapour Badiee Aval⁵, Mohammad Mahdi Esfahani⁶, Omid Sadeghpour⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Iranian Traditional Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Health and Social Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
³ The School of Iranian Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of Neurosciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Complementary and Traditional Medicine Faculty, Mashhad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁶ Quran, Hadith and Medicine Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁷ Department of Herbal and Traditional Medicine, Research Institute of Islamic and Complementary Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder that reduces quality of life.

Objectives: Due to side effects of hypnotic drug and the increasing demand for alternative medicine substitutes, violet oil (VO) was used in this study. VO is a known medication in Iranian traditional medicine that induces sleep in insomniac patients.

Patients and methods: This study was conducted as an experimental pretest-posttest evaluation on VO efficacy in 50 patients with chronic insomnia in Iranian Traditional Medicine Clinic of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Treatment consisted of intranasal drop of VO, two drops containing 66 mg of VO in each nostril nightly before sleeping for one month. All patients were asked to complete an Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaire before the start of the trial and after one month of treatment.

Results: Improvements in sleep and ISI scores were significantly greater in patients after a month receiving VO drop in comparison with before starting treatment (P < 0.05). A few patients reported some complications about VO consumption, most of which were mild and no serious adverse event was encountered.

Conclusions: VO can be presented as a safe, well-tolerated, and effective herbal preparation in patients with chronic insomnia.

Keywords: Chronic Insomnia; Iranian Traditional Medicine; Viola Odorata L; Violet Oil.