title: Paresthesia: A Review of Its Definition, Etiology and Treatments in View of the Traditional Medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To search major Islamic Traditional Medicine (ITM) textbooks for definition, etiology and medicinal plants used to manage 'khadar' or 'paresthesia', a common sensory symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) and peripheral neuropathies. In addition, the conformity of the efficacy of ITM-suggested plants with the findings from modern pharmacological research on MS will be discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on the medicinal plants used to treat 'khadar' were obtained from major ITM texts. A detailed search in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar databases was performed to confirm the effects of ITM-mentioned medicinal plants on MS in view of identified pharmacological actions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Moringa oleifera Lam., Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f., Euphorbia species, Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad., and Costus speciosus (Koen ex. Retz) Sm. are among the most effective ITM plants for the management of 'khadar'. Recent experimental evidence confirms the effectiveness of the mentioned plants in ameliorating MS symptoms. Moreover, according to ITM, prolonged exposure to cold and consuming foodstuff with cold temperament might be involved in the etiopathogenesis of MS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of traditional knowledge can help finding neglected risk factors as well as effective and safe therapeutic approaches, phytomedicines and dietary habits for the management of paresthesia and related disorders such as MS.
authors.forename: Seyed Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Emami
authors.forename: Amirhossein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahebkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 9177948564, Mashhad, Iran. javadib@mums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Behjat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Javadi
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D007514:Islam; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D010292:Paresthesia / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations