Wet Cupping and Phlebotomy in Management of Oligo/Amenorrhea: View of Persian Medicine

Abstract

Oligo/amenorrhea is one of the most common women’s complaints. The most frequent pathologic causes of this condition is polycystic ovaries that leads to unovulatory cycles. Because of insufficiency of treatment in conventional medicine, we studied view point of Persian Medicine. We searched main Persian Medicine references to collect important information about wet-cupping and phlebotomy in treatment of oligo/amenorrhea especially in patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. For gathering evidence that establish this idea, we searched main English and Persian language databases for studies about effectiveness of wet-cupping and phlebotomy on menstruation. Excretion blood from lower extremities especially saphenous vein phlebotomy and calves wet-cupping while massive blood excreting is recommended by Persian physicians in Ehtebas-e-tams (oligo/amenorrhea). From the 106 citations identified from electronic searches, at beginning, 3 ones meet our study objectives. These articles showed that wet-cupping effect on menstruation in women with PCOS and fertilization. Although any study didn’t find about effectiveness of phlebotomy on menstruation or fertilization, but majority studies show effect of phlebotomy or blood donation on decrease of insulin resistance. More research about treating this condition needed to confirm the affectiveness of phlebotomy or wet-cupping in treatment of oligo/amenorrhea.