Thymus daenensis gel improves osteoarthritis symptoms in patients equal and without significant difference than diclofenac. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Comparative study of the effect of Thymus daenensis gel 5% and diclofenac in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Biomedicine (Taipei). 2019 Jun ;9(2):9. Epub 2019 May 24. PMID: 31124455
Morteza Dehghan
BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is a syndrome characterized by joint pain and reduced performance and efficien- cy in patient. Thymus daenensis has been used since old times for the treatment of bone and joint deformities and pain in traditional medicine.
PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine traditional usages and pharmacological features of T. daen- ensis with respect to the effect of the plant in patients with osteoarthritis.
METHODS: 120 patients with osteoarthritis were divided into 3 groups. Patients in each group were treated by 5% Thymus daenensis gel, 1% diclofenac gel, or placebo for 6 weeks, along with oral celecoxib capsules. Patients were assessed in different intervals, based on the VAS score for assessment of pain in the joint and different dimensions of WOMAC questionnaire.
RESULTS: Pain level (P < 0.005), stiffness during the day (P < 0.05), morning stiffness (P < 0.05) and physi- cal performance (P < 0.05) were significantly different among the groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Thymus daenensis gel improves the symptoms in patients equal and without significant difference than diclofenac group. It can be argued that its use can produce a satisfactory effect on patients with osteoarthritis due to its low cost, easy access, the plant's natively occurring in Iran.
