The effect of chamomile on pain and menstrual bleeding in primary dysmenorrhea: a systematic review

Abstract

Background Primary dysmenorrhea is characterized by pain during menstruation without any pelvic pathology. It is a common problem among females in their reproductive age which is caused by increased production of prostaglandin in the endometrium as one of leading causes. Chamomile extract ceases the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes. The aim of this study was to systematically review the clinical trials to determine the effect of Chamomile on pain and menstural bleeding in primary dysmenorrhea. Methods Search process to find relevant articles was conducted on electronic Iranian (MagIran, SID) and international databases (Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, Cochrane library, Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCO), using English keywords and Persian equivalents such a "Dysmenorrhea", "Pain", "Menstrual bleeding" and "Chamomil" without a time limit until March 2020. Irrelevant, duplicate, descriptive, or qualitative studies were excluded. To evaluate the quality of articles, we used the Cochran's Risk of Bias tool. Results Among124 articles found in the initial search, finally 7 clinical trials (with a sample size of 1033) were systematically examined. Two out of 7 studies examined the effect of Chamomile on the pain of primary dysmenorrhea, 2 studies on the effect of Chamomile on menstrual bleeding volume, and 3 on the effect of Chamomileon pain and menstural bleeding in primary dysmenorrhea. Conclusion Based on results of the most reviewed studies, Chamomile can be considered as an effective treatment for primary dysmenorrhea and reducing menstrual bleeding.