The History and Current Situation of Medicinal Plants and Crude Drug Production in Tohoku Region / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Ninety percent of the crude drugs consumed in Japan depend on imports. Recently, the Japanese government has been promoting the domestic production of crude drugs. We investigated the history and current situation of the cultivation of medicinal plants and the production of crude drugs in the Tohoku region, where the 71st annual meeting of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine was held in August 2021. In the Tohoku region, the cultivation of medicinal plants expanded after the Kyoho era of the Edo period. Several medicinal plants in this region have been successfully cultivated and distributed as local specialty products and are being preserved (e.g., Panax ginseng in Aizu, Carthamus tinctorius in Dewa). In some other areas, cultivation has just begun. In each cultivation area, a contractual relationship was established in which local governments, cultivation experts, farmers, Kampo-related associations, and pharmaceutical companies collaborated to continue and expand the cultivation business. To generate revenue, they have been trying to find sales channels not only for crude drugs but also for foods, cosmetics, textiles, and processed products. Although many issues remain to be solved in the distribution of medicinal plants as the source of crude drugs, this survey clarified the ingenuity of medicinal plant cultivation in various areas of the Tohoku region. The results of the investigation are available as videos on the website for members of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine.

Kampo Medicine Treatment for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The Japan Society for Oriental Medicine (JSOM) has made various efforts against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to build evidence. JSOM has launched an academic society-led clinical research project on COVID-19 based on the concept and characteristics of Kampo medicine, including (1) prevention of disease by activating the immune system to regulate body conditions (pre-symptomatic stage of illness), (2) symptom alleviation in the mild and moderate stage and prevention of aggravation (acute to subacute stage of illness), and (3) early recovery and improvement of prolonged symptoms (late stage of illness). Since the declaration of the pandemic, the special working group has conducted the following activities : enlightening academic members, lobbying other academic societies, preparing research protocols, establishing research groups, conducting ethical reviews, responding to the research disclosure system, preparing protocol papers and review articles as the basis for the research, reporting research progress, soliciting case reports, warning against Chinese medicine use, requesting for research support funding, and revising the JSOM website. We also discuss the interpretation of COVID-19 from the perspective of Kampo medicine and the direction of the selection of Kampo formulas in this report.

Indications of Kampo Medicine for Neuro-Otologic Disease / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Kampo medicine is widely used in Japan for neuro-otologic disease (e.g. tinnitus, dizziness, hearing loss). Some patients with these diseases suffer from comorbidity of other non-otologic symptoms. We reviewed typical Kampo medicine formulations for neuro-otologic disease. Kampo extracts have indications not only the neuro-otologic but also other systemic diseases. Kampo medicine would facilitate the care of patients with both neuro-otologic diseases and comorbid symptoms.

Two Cases of Vulvodynia and Insomnia Relieved by Japanese Herbal Medicine Including Saiko / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Vulvodynia is defined as vulvar pain of at least three months duration without a clearly identifiable cause. Currently, there are few established treatments. We report two cases of vulvodynia treated successfully with relief of insomnia, using Japanese herbal medicine including saiko. Case 1: A 29-year-old female had been in a poor physical condition for two years. Initially, she had vulvar itching, which gradually became vulvar pain. At the first consultation, she complained of not only vulvar pain but also insomnia and feeling cold. Additional symptoms included severe fatigue, constipation, frustration, stiff shoulder, and heart palpitations. There were no abnormal findings in the genital region. We began treating the insomnia and coldness using saikokeishikankyoto. By the time of the second consultation two weeks later, her insomnia and coldness completely resolved, vulvar pain disappeared, and other symptoms improved. Case 2: A 46-year-old female experienced vulvar pain two months before the first visit to the hospital. The pain increased gradually and she awakened every 30 minutes in the night with severe vulvar pain. However, there were no abnormal findings in the genital region. We used saikokaryukotsuboreito, an antidepressant and a sleeping pill. Her insomnia improved gradually, and vulvodynia resolved two weeks after the improvement of the insomnia. These results suggest that saiko is effective on vulvodynia with insomnia.

The Current Situation and Problems of Domestic Crude Drug Production / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The consumption and sales of Kampo products, as well as the crude drugs that make up the products, have been increasing recently. However, the Kampo industry has been exhibiting a long-term decline due to the rise in price of imported crude drugs and reduction in standard prices of crude drugs by the Japanese National Health Insurance scheme. As the production of crude drug in Japan has been decreasing for the past thirty years, efforts have been made to improve the situation. Although the production of Aizu Ginseng decreased from 153 metric tons to 8 metric tons in Fukushima, university research institutes have initiated research on expansion of the farm field for Ginseng and reduction in a cultivation term. In Nara, farmers, pharmaceutical and food manufacturers, and university research institutes, aiming to develop new products using Yamato Angelica root, organized a joint council and have been working together to establish integrated systems from cultivation to sales. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and Japan Kampo Medicines Manufacturers Association have held local meetings with farmers and pharmaceutical companies in different areas throughout Japan over the past three years from fiscal year 2013. In order to reduce national healthcare costs by Kampo medicine, it is necessary to upgrade the health care system where not only Kampo extract products but also medicinal plants as raw materials including decoctions can be used. Discussions on measures to cover the costs of domestic production of crude drugs should be required.

<b>Japanese Literature Survey of Tongue Findings for the Purpose of Creating a Unified Multicenter Description of Clinical Tongue Diagnoses</b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

In Kampo medicine, a tongue examination, whereby the shape and color of the tongue is observed, is thought to reveal the constitution and condition of the patient. In Japan, numerous books on this tongue examination have been published. However, tongue findings are expressed differently in these books, and a standard description for such findings has yet to be established. A standard description would be useful when examining the tongue, and when educating students of Kampo medicine. We therefore compared how tongue colors and shapes were expressed in the Japanese literature on tongue examinations (12 publications).<br>Using these results, we have arrived at a standardized description for tongue findings in accordance with Kampo specialists of tongue diagnoses at many facilities. In the process, we focused on easily recognizable findings that can be noted with short clinical examination times, and that can also be understood by beginners.

Gingyo Gedokusan vs Oseltamivir for the Treatment of Uncomplicated Influenza and Influenza-like illness : An Open-label Prospective Study / General Medicine

<b>Background:</b> Gingyo-gedoku-san (GGGS) is an herbal medicine approved for upper respiratory infections in Japan. We conducted an open-label, multi-center, prospective trial, comparing GGGS with oseltamivir in patients with influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) as a pilot study.<br><b>Methods:</b> Subjects were healthy persons aged between 16 and 40, and were enrolled from January 12, 2010 to March 24, 2011. Fifteen patients were enrolled in this trial (8 and 7 for GGGS and oseltamivir, respectively). RT-PCR was positive for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in 10 patients. The patients were provided with either GGGS or oseltamivir for 5 days. The primary outcome was mortality and/or hospitalization 7 days after the initial diagnosis. Body temperature and other clinical characteristics were also evaluated.<br><b>Results:</b> All patients recovered from illness without complication or hospitalization. The mean time to resolve symptoms for the GGGS and oseltamivir groups was 3.9 days and 3.3 days, respectively (p=0.43). The GGGS group appeared to have a smaller symptom score AUC than the oseltamivir group, (p=0.26). Time to recover activity level appeared to be shorter in the GGGS group (p=0.10), with shorter time to recover health status (p=0.02). Sub-group analysis on patients with positive PCR showed similar results between the two groups.<br><b>Conclusion:</b> GGGS was associated with symptom improvements resembling oseltamivir for both influenza and ILI. Randomized controlled trials involving larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these results.

The Lecture for the Diagnosis of Kampo Medicine : Boshin ( ?? ), Especially for the Diagnosis of the Tongue / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Physical examination in Kampo medicine are Inspection, Listening, Interview, Palpitation, and examining it make the core of “Inspection” the diagnosis of tongue. A character of “Inspection” is hieroglyphic formation of the state that even a tiptoe watches the distance of a person. In other Words, not a viewpoint of “analysis”, you must perform it for an idea to “grasp the whole” to the last. Medical examination and treatment begins at the moment when a patient entered a consulting room, and it is it with a key whether, with that in mind, “grasping the whole” is possible. Laennec (1781-1826) created a stethoscope states that “all the medicine begins with observation”, but a meaning to have of “Inspection” is deep. Examining it divide it into “Shin, color, form and state” and observe it, but this “Shin” is “energy” and gathers up a whole body state of a patient generally, and a tongue is important when I guess convalescence of illness an importance. It is thought that a tongue reflects development of a condition, Yin and Yang/Kyo and Jitsu of the condition of a patient, balance of Qi, Ketsu and Sui, but there is not such a change for views, and even a physically unimpaired person can watch a native change though there is serious illness in one. In other words it is a premise to watch quality of tongue and a change of fur as a partial phenomenon and an accompanying symptom of the condition of a patient generally without being seized with only views of a part.

Seeking Contact Point for Crude Drugs and Clinical Application of Kampo Medicine / 日本東洋医学雑誌

A quarter century has passed since the implementation of the complete health insurance coverage of Kampo medicines in 1976. This drastic change has led to the wide use of this type of medications in the clinical setting. During this period, based on the myth “Kampo medicines have no adverse reaction” and the indoctrination “Kampo medicines are effective for various pathophysiological conditions that cannot be managed by Western medicine”, there was a transient, but dramatic increase in the use of Kampo medicines. It is certainly true that Kampo medicine has been beneficial in many patients. However, the expectation that Kampo medicines have been truly accepted by doctors who have properly managed their patients according to the principle of Western medicine is doubtful. This is partly because, based on the idea that it is firstly needed to make the use of Kampo formulations more easy in the hands of clinicians, Kampo medicines have been dealt with as if they were single components although they are actually complex entities. Due to such misunderstanding, prescribing physicians have lost their interest toward the contents (component crude drugs) of Kampo medicines. Numbered extracts are certainly convenient for clinicians who use Kampo medicines according to the concept of Westem medicine. Let me introduce Mashinin-gan (No. 126) as an example. Unfortunately, doctors use this Kampo medicine just to improve bowel movement. I think that we can understand the true worth of Joki-to formulae, which used to play an active role in the treatment of <i>yang ming bing</i>, a condition once thought as refractory, only if we recognize that Mashinin-gan is a modified formulation of Sho-joki-to (immature orange, magnolia bank, Rhubarb Rhizome) and then pursue its use differentiating from Juncho-to (No. 51), Dai-joki-to (No. 133) and Tsu-do-san (No. 105). Upon such consideration, we understand that to learn the principle of <i>Shang han lun</i> [a treatise on <i>Shang han</i> (a form of an acute infectious disease)] is to place importance on the Chinese classic. I think that, in the past, at the meetings of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine, more attention was paid to the origin of crude drugs as well as the efficacy of Kampo formulations. “What is the origin of Rhubarb Rhizome you used?” or “Is bupleurum root you mentioned <i>Bupleurum falcatum</i> Willd or <i>Bupleurum falcatum</i> Linné?” Of course, we must not stick to this aspect too much, but we will have trouble if we pay absolutely no consideration to the components of Kampo medicines we actually use, even when we use extracts. This is an era of evidence-based medicine (EBM). When we clinicians treat patients with Kampo medicines that cannot be characterized by single chemical formulae, we can value their clinical efficacy only if we stick to the quality of crude drugs to the extent possible. The man subject of this meeting is “To Get Handfuls of Blessings of Great Nature.” At this meeting, I would like to describe the current clinical application of Kampo medicines and actual efforts made by farmers who engage in the cultivation and gathering of well-known crude drugs. I hope that my lecture will help to make clinicians aware of the characteristics of each crude drug for the clinical application of Kampo medicines.