A Case of Sleepwalking Disorder Treated with Kanzo-shashin-to / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of Kanzoshashin-to on sleepwalking disorder is reported here. The patient was a 60-year-old male, who worked as a company employee. His main complaint was shouting, jumping out of bed and running around the room when he was in an unconcious sleep state. There was no notable related family history. He had had surgery for a herniated lumbar disk in 1971. His present condition began in about 1984, but no measures were taken at that time. In 1989, he underwent various tests at a local clinic and at the psychiatric department of a general hospital, but no definitive diagnosis was given. He received tranquilizers, which temporarily lessened the condition, but the effects were not lasting. The symptoms were still present at the time of a reexamination at his company clinic on February 2nd, 1994. Kampo abdominal diagnosis revealed the abdominal signs ‘shinkahiko’ and ‘Kyokyokuman, ’ or fullness and resistence in the upper abdomen and hypochondrium. Kanzoshashin-to was given on February 16th. One week after commencement of administration, the symptoms gradually improved, and he stopped shouting, running around and throwing things in a sleep state.