Insomnia in Iranian traditional medicine.
BACKGROUND
Insomnia is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders characterized by sleep difficulty that impairs daily functioning and reduces quality of life. The burden of medical, psychiatric, interpersonal, and societal consequences of insomnia expresses the importance of diagnosing and treatment of insomnia. The aim of study was to investigate causes of insomnia from the viewpoint of Iranian traditional medicine.


METHODS
In this review study, we searched insomnia in a few of the most famous ancient textbooks of Iranian traditional medicine from different centuries. This books includeThe Canon of Medicine by Avicenna (the first version of Beirut), Zakhire Kharazmshahi by Jurjani (the scanned version of Bonyade Farhang-e Iran), Malfaregh by Razes (the first version of Iran University of Medical Sciences), and Aqili's cure by Aqili (the first version of Iran University of Medical Sciences).


RESULTS
This study found that in Iranian traditional medicine manuscripts, insomnia was called sahar and even though many factors induce insomnia, most of them act through causing brain dystemperament.


CONCLUSIONS
The brain dystemperament is considered one of the main causes of insomnia and insomnia can be well managed with an organized line of treatment, by correcting the brain dystemperament through elimination of causes. This study helps to find new solutions to treat insomnia.
Iranian Traditional Medicine Department, Medicine Faculty, Shahed University, Tehran, IR Iran.
Zohre
Z
Feyzabadi
Health and Social Medicine Department, Medicine Faculty, Shahed University, Tehran, IR Iran.
Farhad
F
Jafari
General Linguistics Department, University of Tehran, Tehran, IR Iran.
Parvin Sadat
PS
Feizabadi
Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation Faculty, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Hassan
H
Ashayeri
Quran, Hadith and Medicine Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Mohammad Mahdi
MM
Esfahani
Complementary and Traditional Medicine Faculty, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IR Iran.
Shapour
S
Badiee Aval
Brain; Medicine, Traditional; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders