title: Categorization of Functional Constipation in Traditional Persian Medicine: A Descriptive Study.
abstract: Functional constipation (FC) is a common clinical condition without any specific physiological causes with economic cost and adverse effects on patients' quality of life. The present study aimed to evaluate the causes of nonobstructive constipation in traditional Persian medicine and its prevalence in patients with functional constipation by content analysis of patients' interviews and clinical exams. In this study, almost two thirds of the patients with functional constipation had mild to severe cold distemperament of the gastrointestinal system, and in almost half of them the signs and symptoms were compatible with dry distemperament of the gastrointestinal. This observational study reports high prevalence of gastrointestinal system distemperaments in patients with functional constipation. According to the results, we can consider the proposed management of distemperaments in traditional Persian medicine for functional constipation treatment and pathophysiology explanation. This project is a novel study that provides the opportunity for investigating the epidemiological aspects of these distemperaments and their relationship with functional constipation.
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran elsaghm@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mahin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elsagh
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farshad Amini
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Behbahani
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fartookzadeh
authors.affiliation: Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Peyman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adibi
authors.affiliation: Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamalinejad
authors.affiliation: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anushiravani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003248:Constipation / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D013694:Temperament / Q000145:classification*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: constipation; humor; temperament; traditional medicine