ABSTRACT
Many of the students belonging to the School of Health and Social Services will be responsible for health education in the future, and it is important that they have an understanding of the importance of Kampo medicine and the ability to give appropriate guidance in the field. But their educational goals need discussing. We conducted lectures on Kampo medicine with medical school students towards this end, and conducted before and after questionnaire surveys to gauge their effect. Students with a desirable degree of awareness toward Kampo medicine in Japanese society increased from 58.0 ± 15.4% to 88.5 ± 10.2%, and students judging Kampo as either useful or extremely useful rose from 58.4% to 95.9%. It is our hope that, with the raised awareness from these lectures as a base, these students will go on to engage in suitable medical educational activities in the future.
ABSTRACT
Although the herbal preparation Kakkon-to is known to improve shoulder stiffness, there have been few studies attempting to elucidate the extent and mechanism of this effect. Kanebo Kakkon-to extract was administered orally to a group (n=19) of patients (pts) with shoulder stiffness (SS) at a dose of 2.5-7.5g/day, as well as to a group (n=9) of normal healthy subjects (NS). The effects and any side effects of Kakkon-to were then evaluated. The body surface temperature (BST) of the side of the neck was recorded from the Bide view position with a thermotracer before administration, after 30 minutes, after 60 minutes, after 90 minutes, and after 120 minutes. As for the general improvemant rates for this formula in the SS group, the rate of ‘remarkable improvement’ was 21.1%, ‘improvement’ 42.1%, and ‘slight improvement’ 15.8%. The overall utility rating, evaluated from the degree of improvement, was that the formula was considered ‘useful’ or better in 63.2% or the cases, and ‘slightly useful’ or better in 78.9% of the cases. Before administration of Kakkon-to, there was no significant difference between the BST of the SS group and that of the NS group, and no significant difference between the BST of improved pts in the SS group (n=12) and the BST of the Insufflciently improved pts in the SS group (n=7). The BST of the NS group 120 minutes after administration of Kakkon-to was higher than the pre-administration BST. There was no significant difference in the BST of the insufficiently improved pts of the SS group upon administration of Kakkon-to. The changes in the BST before and after administration of Kakkon-to were greater for the sufficiently improved SS group than for the insufficiently improved SS group or NS group. It was suspected that the effect of Kakkon-to on shoulder stiffness was due to improvement of blood circulation, as indicated by the higher BST.
ABSTRACT
Disopyramide phosphate, administered to treat arrhythmias, has an anti -cholinergic effect and produces thirst. As the herbal preparation Byakko-ka-ninjin-to is known to ameliorate the symptom of thirst, Kanebo Byakko-ka-ninjin-to extract was administered orally at a dose of 6.0g/day for 12 weeks. Its efficacy was monitored in the 11 patients receiving this treatment for thirst resulting from Disopyramide phosphate in the form of time-release tablets.<br>No adverse influence on the effectiveness of the Disopyramide phosphate in the treatment of arrythmias was observed upon administration of this Kampo formula. No side effects were observed in 81.8% of the cases. “Remarkable improvement” in thirst was reported by 18.2% of the cases, “improvement” was described by 27.3%, “slight improvement” was presented by 18.2% and “no remarkable change” was experienced by 18.2%. No cases (0%) had “worsening” and no evaluation was possible in 18.2% of the cases. The overall efficacy, which included cases in which the Kampo formula was considered “slightly effective” or better, and which also included the safety of the formula, was 63.6%.<br>This study suggested that Byakko-ka-ninjin-to is useful in the amelioration of the symptom of thirst, a common side-effect of Disopyramide phosphate.