role of heart failure in sexual dysfunction according to persian traditional medicine

role of heart failure in sexual dysfunction according to persian traditional medicine

introduction: sexual problems are common in heart failure (hf), and are not always adequately addressed and treated in the current health care system. scholars of persian medicine (pm) have paid special attention to this issue in more than a thousand years ago. method: this article is a review of main pm references to find association between heart and sexual function.result: according to the viewpoints in pm, heart, brain and liver have closed relationship together to make normal sexual function.

pm physicians believe the first step of treatment in patients with hf and sexual dysfunction is strengthening the heart and improving its efficiency. also, they believe that hypersexual activity or sex addiction can cause or exacerbate hf. it is recommended to decrease sexual activity during the treatment period especially in thin individuals. also for strengthening the heart, recommendation of foods is the first step and medicinal herbs like lemon balm, peppermint, calamintha, white tea, basil, cinnamon, pussy willow, clove, bergamot orange, lemon, saffron etc. are also prescribed as second step. discussion: sexual dysfunction in patients with hf will have severe impact on different aspects of life; therefore using an integrative approach may have more advantages as increasing patients’ satisfaction and improving their quality of life.