ABSTRACT
<p>We present a 35-year-old male with palpebral hemispasm, which often occurred while at work. Because there were no ophthalmological findings, he consulted our clinic to receive Kampo therapy. He easily became fatigued and he had subchondral resistance and discomfort (kyo-kyo-kuman), so we treated him with saikokeishito and shakuyakukanzoto. However, they were ineffective, and therefore we reconsidered his symptoms.<br>Although he complained of fatigue, he was well built and had been a heavy drinker until a few years before presenting. Furthermore, he easily blushed and sweated in the upper body during the daytime, and his palpebral hemispasm often occurred during this blushing and sweating, and was accompanied by headache. We considered that this represented an excess-heat pattern rather than a deficiency pattern, and prescribed orengedokuto. His symptoms improved, and disappeared after six months.<br>There has been no detailed report of orengedokuto for the treatment of palpebral hemispasm. Orengedokuto may be useful for palpebral hemispasm in the context of symptoms of excess-heat pattern, such as blushing, sweating in the upper body and headache.</p>
ABSTRACT
Bofutsushosan has recently become a well-known Kampo formulation for treating metabolic syndrome. It is effective for obesity in people who have mental disorder, but few reports suggest that it is effective for mental disorder itself. We report a case of depressive complaints treated effectively with bofutsushosan. The case was 63 years-old male who had had depression for twenty years. His depressed condition had been stable owing to antidepressant therapies. However, he had could not read books, and so had not been able to enjoy the pleasure of reading since nine months previously. He did not believe that his depression had taken a turn for the worse, but rather that he had the partial androgen decline (or deficiency) of aging males. Therefore he did not consult his psychiatrist, and he wanted to be treated with Kampo formulations. He was diagnosed with a hyperfunctional constitution, heat pattern, and a <i>ki </i>obstruction pattern. Bofutsushosan was prescribed, and his complaints improved remarkably. This suggests that bofutsushosan is effective for treatment of not only obesity but also mental disorder itself.