RESUMO
Twelve patients with iron deficiency anemia, who were unable to take iron drugs due to side effects or other reasons, were treated with oral doses of Ninjin-yoei-to (Ren-shen-yang-rong-tang), a Kampo Japanese herbal medicine, and were followed up. The onset of the blood-making effect of Ninjin-yoei-to monotherapy is slower than that of iron drug monotherapy or combination therapy with iron drugs and Ninjin-yoei-to. However, some clinical improvements in anemia were observed after continued therapy with Ninjin-yoei-to. Some patients showed normal blood counts 12 weeks after treatment with Ninjin-yoei-to. In addition, it was observed that some clinical symptoms that accompany anemia, such as dull headache and chill in the extremities, showed early improvement. Several other reports have documented similar effects with Ninjin-yoei-to. It seems that the pharmacological actions of Ninjin-yoei-to, such as increasing the absorption of nutrients required for blood-making by appetite stimulation and activation of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells, play a role in these clinical effects. These results suggest that Kampo Japanese herbal medicines are useful for anemia therapy.