Traditional effects of medicinal plants in the treatment of respiratory diseases and disorders: an ethnobotanical study in the Urmia

Mohsen Asadbeigi; Tahereh Mohammadi; Mahmoud Rafieian-Kopaei; Kourosh Saki; Mahmoud Bahmani; Mohammad Delfan

doi:10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60259-5

Traditional effects of medicinal plants in the treatment of respiratory diseases and disorders: an ethnobotanical study in the Urmia

Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2014 Sep:7S1:S364-8. doi: 10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60259-5.

Authors

Mohsen Asadbeigi¹, Tahereh Mohammadi², Mahmoud Rafieian-Kopaei³, Kourosh Saki⁴, Mahmoud Bahmani⁵, Mohammad Delfan²

Affiliations

¹ Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
² Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
³ Medical Plants Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
⁴ Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran. Electronic address: mahmood.bahmani@gmail.com.

PMID: 25312151
DOI: 10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60259-5

Abstract

Objective: To identify, present and review the respiratoty medicinal plants which used by Urmian herbalists.

Methods: The list of traditional healers of West Azarbaijan Province was prepared and data were obtained by direct observation, interviews and the questionnaires After that, herbarium samples were collected from the desired area and deposited in herbarium unit of the Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.

Results: Our results demonstrated that 20 medicinal plants from 10 plant families are used to treat respiratory disorders. Also, the most plant part that used for treating of respiratory disorders was seed (27%) and the most traditional form prescribed by herbalists was boiled (54%). Forty three percentage of Urmia herbalists have used herbs for the treatment of cough.

Conclusions: People in this area have a strong belief that plants have a positive impact in the treatment of respiratory disorders and they have used medicinal plants since ancient times to treat these disorders. Our study revealed the importance of herbal medicines and traditional medicine in this area as medicinal resource for drug discovery in future.

Keywords: Herbalists; Medicinal plants; Respiratory diseases; Urmia.