Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome caused by chlorine gas from the point of view of Persian Medicine: A review article

Kh Akbari Mashak; Kh Agin; E Emaratkar; M Gholami Fesharaki; H Namdar

doi:10.18502/tkj.v14i4.12316

Kh Akbari Mashak Ph.D student of persian Medicine, Department of Traditional Persian Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
Kh Agin Associate Professor, Department of the Pulmonary Medicine, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Medical School, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
E Emaratkar Assistant Professor, Department of Traditional Persian Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
M Gholami Fesharaki Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Biostatistics Department, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
H Namdar Assistant Professor, Department of Traditional Persian Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tkj.v14i4.12316

Keywords: Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome (RADS), Persian Medicine, Chlorine gas, Acute pulmonary edema

Abstract

Introduction: Chlorine gas inhalation is a toxic respiratory irritant associated with high lung complications. Despite its wide industrial and domestic applications such as bleaching detergents, there is no specific treatment for chlorine gas poisoning yet and common standard treatments are mostly supportive. In this regard, this study aimed to find a new treatment for this pathogenesis from the perspective of Persian medicine (PM).

Materials and methods: In this review study, at first, we searched the etiologies and clinical symptoms associated with chlorine gas poisoning in modern medicine and then compared them with similar etiologies and symptoms in valuable Persian medical manuscripts. Then we reviewed the proposed treatments for similar illnesses from the point of view of PM.

Results: The pathology of lung damage caused by inhalation of chlorine gas is reactive airway dysfunction syndrome (RADS), which leads to dyspnea, hypoxemia, respiratory tract obstruction, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, and finally acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In a comparative study, it seems that this pathology has the closest similarity with the Persian term“Varme-e-harr riye”. The treatment strategy for this syndrome in PM is bloodletting at the first and then the application of cold-temperament foods and medications to improve the lungs.

Conclusion: According to the compatibility of acute pulmonary edema caused by chlorine inhalation and “varam-e-harr riye” in PM, it seems that wet cupping can be considered as a suggested primary and emergency treatment for this pathology in future clinical studies.