Iranian traditional medicine

Domain XI · Traditional medicine & indigenous healing · 2007 · Iran

What it is

Iranian traditional medicine is a codified humoral medical system. Its schools describe it as one of the oldest forms of traditional medicine, rooted in Rhazes and Avicenna, and as giving priority to preserving health over treating disease. Its core theory, as its own scholars publish it:

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Institutions and training (Iran). MOHME laid the groundwork in 2006; the Department of Persian Medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) was founded in 2007, the first in Iran, with Traditional Pharmacy entering the academic system in 2008 and History of Medicine in 2013. TUMS offers a PhD in Traditional Persian Medicine, a 4-year PhD in Traditional Pharmacy, and runs three clinics. At Mashhad, the…
• Two streams of practice. Aramesh (2018) distinguishes a state-supported academic stream (university schools, research centres, salamatkadeh) from a largely unregulated non-academic stream whose practitioners range from people without health training to clerics; MOHME has acted against some non-academic practitioners with limited, inconsistent success. Herb shops (attari, عطاری) are regulated by the government.
• Outside Iran. No dedicated Persian medicine register or licence outside Iran is documented. Practitioners abroad may be physicians, herbalists or unregistered; check each person's actual registration with the relevant medical or health-professions regulator.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status. A 2025 review by Persian medicine researchers (not independent of the field) found 10 studies of lifestyle education and diet with positive results but called the evidence limited, with language and publication bias and variable quality. An Iranian bioethicist's critique argues…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Activities chosen to please you; avoidance dressed as rest. Working when activities are done and mood or function shifts.
• The client hearing this as disapproval of Persian medicine; the client stopping both. Working when the prescriber knows about all products.
• Shame or secrecy after your concern; family pressure; the client leaving care. Working when the client stays engaged and the medical risk is managed.
• The client silenced in family sessions; therapist taking sides in the traditional-versus-modern debate. Working when the family supports one coordinated plan.
• Interpreters adding their own views of Persian medicine; client discomfort about community gossip. Working when the client can speak in the language of feeling.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.