THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UTERINE TEMPERAMENT AND VAGINITIS FROM IRANIAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE POINT OF VIEW

Iranian traditional medicine is based on the concept of Mizaj (Temperament). Mizaj is the overall quality of body and any of its organs in terms of the amount and the proportion of combination of each of four elements, i.e. warmness, coldness, wetness, and dryness in it. If an organ or the whole body gets out of their natural temperament, a disease will be developed. Uterine infections are caused by the wet dys-temperament (Su'e Mizaj) of the uterus, from this perspective. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between uterine temperament and vaginitis. This case-control study was conducted on 223 women aged 20-40 years living in Tehran who referred to two clinics affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences by matching the age and contraceptive method. In the case group (n=112) one kind of vaginitis was detected and the control group (n=111) were healthy in this regard. The data were analyzed using chi-square test, independent t-test, or Mann-Whitney test and logistic regression. Uterine compound temperament was cold-wet in most patients (62.5%). Uterine singular temperament was cold in 73.7% of the patient in terms of coldness and hotness and was wet in 74.6% of the patients in terms of dryness and wetness. There was a significant relationship between uterine singular and compound temperament and risk of vaginitis. It can be said that uterine dis-temperament is a predisposing factor to develop vaginitis and this finding validates the theory claimed in traditional medicine literature. Keywords: Temperament; Vaginitis; Iranian traditional medicine; Uterine