Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches
<b>Background:</b> Plant-based remedies have been used since antiquity to treat menstrual-related diseases (MD). From the late nineteenth to the early to mid-twentieth century, Italian folk remedies to treat “women’s diseases” were documented in a vast <i>corpus</i> of litera...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/5/589 |
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| author | Rosalucia Mazzei Claudia Genovese Angela Magariello Alessandra Patitucci Giampiero Russo Giuseppe Tagarelli |
| author_facet | Rosalucia Mazzei Claudia Genovese Angela Magariello Alessandra Patitucci Giampiero Russo Giuseppe Tagarelli |
| author_sort | Rosalucia Mazzei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <b>Background:</b> Plant-based remedies have been used since antiquity to treat menstrual-related diseases (MD). From the late nineteenth to the early to mid-twentieth century, Italian folk remedies to treat “women’s diseases” were documented in a vast <i>corpus</i> of literature sources. <b>Aim:</b> The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the plant-based treatments utilized by Italian folk medicine to heal clinical manifestations of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea and menstrual disorders in an attempt to discuss these remedies from a modern pharmacological point of view. Moreover, we compare the medical applications described by Hippocrates with those utilized by Italian folk medicine to check if they result from a sort of continuity of use by over two thousand years. <b>Results:</b> Out of the 54 plants employed in Italian folk medicine, 25 (46.3%) were already documented in the <i>pharmacopoeia</i> of the <i>Corpus Hippocraticum</i> for treating MD. Subsequently, a detailed search of scientific data banks such as Medline and Scopus was undertaken to uncover recent results concerning bioactivities of the plant extracts to treat MD. About 26% of the plants used by Italian folk medicine, nowadays, have undergone human trials to assess their actual efficacy. At the same time, about 41% of these herbal remedies come back to in different countries. <b>Conclusions:</b> Active principles extracted from plants used by Italian folk healers could be a promising source of knowledge and represent strength candidates for future drug discovery for the management of MD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:22:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8168f22ad96b4f9a9967fff03841da38 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:22:14Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-8168f22ad96b4f9a9967fff03841da382024-03-12T16:52:34ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472024-02-0113558910.3390/plants13050589Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current ApproachesRosalucia Mazzei0Claudia Genovese1Angela Magariello2Alessandra Patitucci3Giampiero Russo4Giuseppe Tagarelli5Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Via Cavour 4-6, 87036 Rende, ItalyInstitute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Via Empedocle, 58, 95128 Catania, ItalyInstitute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Via Cavour 4-6, 87036 Rende, ItalyInstitute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Via Cavour 4-6, 87036 Rende, ItalyFamily Counseling Center (ASP Cosenza), 87036 Rende, ItalyInstitute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council, Via Cavour 4-6, 87036 Rende, Italy<b>Background:</b> Plant-based remedies have been used since antiquity to treat menstrual-related diseases (MD). From the late nineteenth to the early to mid-twentieth century, Italian folk remedies to treat “women’s diseases” were documented in a vast <i>corpus</i> of literature sources. <b>Aim:</b> The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the plant-based treatments utilized by Italian folk medicine to heal clinical manifestations of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea and menstrual disorders in an attempt to discuss these remedies from a modern pharmacological point of view. Moreover, we compare the medical applications described by Hippocrates with those utilized by Italian folk medicine to check if they result from a sort of continuity of use by over two thousand years. <b>Results:</b> Out of the 54 plants employed in Italian folk medicine, 25 (46.3%) were already documented in the <i>pharmacopoeia</i> of the <i>Corpus Hippocraticum</i> for treating MD. Subsequently, a detailed search of scientific data banks such as Medline and Scopus was undertaken to uncover recent results concerning bioactivities of the plant extracts to treat MD. About 26% of the plants used by Italian folk medicine, nowadays, have undergone human trials to assess their actual efficacy. At the same time, about 41% of these herbal remedies come back to in different countries. <b>Conclusions:</b> Active principles extracted from plants used by Italian folk healers could be a promising source of knowledge and represent strength candidates for future drug discovery for the management of MD.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/5/589menstrual diseasesPMSamenorrheadysmenorrheamenstrual disordersfolk medicine |
| spellingShingle | Rosalucia Mazzei Claudia Genovese Angela Magariello Alessandra Patitucci Giampiero Russo Giuseppe Tagarelli Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches Plants menstrual diseases PMS amenorrhea dysmenorrhea menstrual disorders folk medicine |
| title | Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches |
| title_full | Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches |
| title_fullStr | Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches |
| title_short | Plants in Menstrual Diseases: A Systematic Study from Italian Folk Medicine on Current Approaches |
| title_sort | plants in menstrual diseases a systematic study from italian folk medicine on current approaches |
| topic | menstrual diseases PMS amenorrhea dysmenorrhea menstrual disorders folk medicine |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/5/589 |
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