title: Traditional effects of medicinal plants in the treatment of respiratory diseases and disorders: an ethnobotanical study in the Urmia.
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.
authors.affiliation: Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asadbeigi
authors.affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Tahereh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Medical Plants Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rafieian-Kopaei
authors.affiliation: Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Kourosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saki
authors.affiliation: Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran. Electronic address: mahmood.bahmani@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bahmani
authors.affiliation: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delfan
keywords: Herbalists; Medicinal plants; Respiratory diseases; Urmia