- 1Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Islamic Republic of Iran.
- 2Food and Beverages Safety Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
- 3Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Islamic Republic of Iran rafieian@yahoo.com.
- 4Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
Addiction
is a chronic and recurring disease that recurrence phenomenon is the
most important challenge in treatment of this disease. Recent
experiences have shown that synthetic drugs have undesirable side
effects. Recent studies on medicinal plants have shown that they might be effective in treatment of different stages of addiction with lower side effects and costs. The aim of this study was to review the effects of medicinal plants in the treatment of morphine addiction
in experimental animals. In this review article, by using keywords of
morphine, withdrawal, and plants or herbal medicine in databases of
indexing cites, desired articles were obtained since 1994. Inclusion
criteria for selecting articles were the articles related to application
of medicinal plants
in decreasing symptoms resulting from morphine withdrawal were
selected. Results of this study on experimental studies have shown that medicinal plants
such as Trachyspermum copticum L and Melissa officinalis decrease the
symptoms of withdrawal syndrome in a dose-dependent. Also, medicinal plants
like Avena sativa, Hypericum perforatu, Passiflora incarnate, Valeriana
officinalis, Satureja hortensis L, and Mentha piperita can have effects
on behavior, emotions, and other problems of addicts, decreasing withdrawal symptoms. Results of this study showed that medicinal plants can be effective in controlling deprivation, decreasing dependency creation, and possibly DETOXIFICATION: of opioid addicts.
© The Author(s) 2015.
KEYWORDS:
addiction; medicinal plants; morphine; opioid
