Abstract
Recently, an article published in this journal by Dr Seifaddini and colleagues. In that article, the authors tried to connect dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, with a condition mentioned in Iranian traditional medical condition, Raoonat and Homgh. In this condition, intellectual functions of the brain are disturbed and therefore, learning and decision-making abilities are damaged. This condition is not age limited and affects thinking ability but not memory. On the other hand, there is a condition described in Iranian traditional medicine, which completely matches with Alzheimer’s disease. This condition is explained under the title of Nesyan (forgetfulness). Nesyan has 5 subdivisions, one of which is caused by the inclination of the brain normal temperament to more coldness and dryness. By performing animal studies, we have recently shown that this kind of Nesyan is related with Alzheimer’s disease. Studies on the traditional recommendations on treatment of this kind of Nesyan can be useful in treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dear Editor
We read with interest the article published in your journal by Dr Seifaddini and colleagues. 1 In that article, the authors tried to connect dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, with a medical condition mentioned in Iranian traditional medicine, Raoonat and Homgh. Then, they suggested a few recommendations for prevention of this condition. Because Alzheimer’s disease is a complicated disease with unknown origin, traditional medicines can play a key role in the prevention and treatment of this disease if the connection between traditional terms and new medical terminologies can be properly established, which were not clearly described in that article.
Literally, Raoonat and Homgh means stupidity. 2 In this condition, intellectual functions of the brain are disturbed and therefore, learning and decision-making abilities are damaged. This condition is not age limited and can affect people of all ages. If this condition occurs as a natural consequence of old age, it is traditionally named as old age stupidity. 3 Thus, what is influenced in Raoonat and Homgh is thinking ability not memory.
On the other hand, there is a condition described in Iranian traditional medicine that completely matches with Alzheimer’s disease. This condition is explained under the title of Nesyan (ie, forgetfulness). Nesyan has 5 subdivisions, one of which is similar to Alzheimer’s disease. This kind of disease is caused by the inclination of the brain normal temperament to more coldness and dryness. The occurrence of this disease is in old age, and patients are faced with losing recent memories, but they remember old ones. We previously compared signs and symptoms of this kind of Nesyan with Alzheimer’s dementia. 4 Table 1 shows the similarity of signs and symptoms of these 2 conditions.
NINCDS-ADRDA Criteria for Diagnosis of Probable Alzheimer’s Disease in Comparison With Traditional Signs and Symptoms of Cold and Dry Dementia.
Abbreviation: NINCDS-ADRDA, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke—Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association.
We also tried to examine our theory about the relationship between Nesyan and dementia via animal studies. Because the main cause of this kind of Nesyan is coldness and dryness of the brain, we chronically exposed rats to cold water near freezing point. The rats’ memory was impaired after 14-day exposure to cold water. Molecular studies revealed that memory impairment induced by this method is similar with Alzheimer’s disease pathology because 2 hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, which are, amyloid plaque formation and tau hyperphosphorylation were determined as a consequence of this intervention. 5
In another study, we tried to treat hypothermia-induced memory impairment by Nepeta menthoides, one of the traditional herbs prescribed in Iranian traditional medicine for Nesyan. The logic of treatment in Iranian traditional medicine is to return dystemperament to normal temperament by using the drugs with opposite nature of diseases. For example, to treat a disease with cold dystemperament, a drug with hot temperament should be prescribed. In this case, Nepeta menthoides is a hot and dry herb, and Nesyan is cold and dry. So, if our theory about Nesyan and its nature was right, only small amounts of the herb could neutralize cold dystemperament of the brain but greater amounts of the herb would make the condition worse because of exacerbation of dryness of the brain. Interestingly, small amount of the herb enhanced memory retrieval but greater amounts exacerbate the condition. 6
We also tried to find the logic of dietary recommendations of Iranian traditional medicine for Nesyan. We pointed out that foods with high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol are recommended by Iranian traditional medicine for prevention and treatment of Nesyan. Recent investigations on the role of polyunsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol in Alzheimer’s disease are surprisingly supportive of Iranian traditional medicine’s suggestions. 7
As a conclusion, cold and dry Nesyan can be considered as a traditional equivalent of Alzheimer’s disease and therefore, research on the traditional recommendations on prevention and treatment of this kind of Nesyan can be fruitful.
Footnotes
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Sadegh Ahmadian Attari, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, for his helpful contribution.
Author Contributions
Mohammad Mahdi Ahmadian-Attari and Meysam Shirzad designed of the letter and also wrote the contents.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical Approval
This study did not warrant institutional review board review as no human subjects were involved.