Kampo, Japan’s traditional herbal medicine and Women

Namita Nayyar (WF Team)

12 years ago

Kampo, Japan’s Traditional Herbal Medicine and Women

– Reported, 18 January 2013

Kampo is Japan’s traditional herbal medicine and it is an integral part of the official Westernized medical system in Japan. We describe the Kampo approach to premenstrual symptoms. We present 3 clinical cases of women treated for premenstrual discomforts in a Kampo clinic in Japan. Each of these women reported improvement in their conditions. We argue that Kampo is well-suited for treatment of premenstrual symptoms in Japan and deserves the attention of Western clinicians for three reasons: (1) patient-centered Kampo diagnosis allows physicians to handle subjective and culture-bound symptoms that are often ignored by Western medicine:

(2) Kampo herbal formulas are regulated by the Japanese government, and are pure and of high quality; and

(3) the settings in which Kampo is practiced set a stage for therapeutic collaboration between the doctor and the patient.

It was investigated, the association between blood flow in the extremities and hot flashes, and compared change in blood flow following hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and Gui-zhi-fu-ling-wan (Keishi-bukuryo-gan), a herbal therapy in post-menopausal women with hot flashes. Three hundred and fifty-two post-menopausal women aged 46-58 years (mean: 53.4 +/- 3.6 years) with climacteric complaints participated in the study. One hundred and thirty-one patients with hot flashes were treated with HRT (64 cases) or herbal therapy (67 cases). Blood flow was measured with laser doppler fluxmetry under the jaw, in the middle finger and in the third toe. Post-menopausal women with hot flashes (129 cases) showed significantly higher blood flow under the jaw (13.6 +/- 4.13) than women without hot flashes (166 cases) (5.48 +/- 0.84) (p < 0.0001). Blood flow at this site decreased significantly with either therapy (p < 0.0001). On the other hand, the administration of Gui-zhi-fu-lingwan significantly increased (p = 0.002) the blood flow in the lower extremities, whereas HRT decreased the blood flow. Thus, we have demonstrated that Gui-zhi-fu-ling-wan did not affect the activity of vasodilator neuropeptides on sensory neurons of systemic peripheral vessels uniformly. Therefore, Gui-zhi-fu-ling-wan, rather than HRT, is suggested as an appropriate therapy for treatment of hot flashes in the face and upper body with concomitant coldness in the lower body, which is one of the symptoms of menopause.

The efficacy of goshuyuto, a typical Kampo (Japanese herbal medicine) formula, in preventing episodes of headache.

The purpose of this clinical trial was to assess the efficacy of goshuyuto, a typical Kampo formula, in preventing episodes of headache in chronic headache patients.

Because the treatment target of a Kampo formula is decided on a basis different to that of Western medicine, we first selected patients belonging to a subgroup that responded to goshuyuto before conducting the usual randomized controlled trial. During stage 1, the subjects were instructed to orally consume goshuyuto for 4 weeks. Only those subjects judged as responders advanced to stage 2, during which a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted. The subjects consumed the same dose of goshuyuto or placebo for 12 weeks.

Of the 91 subjects enrolled in stage 1, 60 were judged as responders. Of these, 53 advanced to stage 2; 28 were assigned to the goshuyuto group and 25 to the placebo group. The decrease in the number of days on which headache episodes occurred was greater in the goshuyuto group than in the placebo group (2.6 +/- 3.7 vs. 0.3 +/- 4.0 days, p = 0.034); no difference was observed with regard to the reduction in the frequency of consuming reliever medications (2.2 +/- 4.0 vs. 1.4 +/- 8.2, p = 0.672). Improvement in the associated symptoms was observed in more than 50% of the subjects in the goshuyuto group.

Goshuyuto is useful in preventing episodes of headache in chronic headache patients. Responder-limited design is a candidate for evaluating Kampo medicine.

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