Japanese Kampo Medicines for the Treatment of Common Diseases

Focus on Inflammation

Somasundaram Arumugam, Kenichi Watanabe

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780128093986
• eBook ISBN: 9780128094440
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Immunology

Japanese Kampo Medicines for the Treatment of Common Diseases - Focus on Inflammation provides researchers and clinicians with a current look at how Kampo medicines can be used to effectively treat inflammatory disorders. Japanese Kampo medicines are a mixture of natural and herbal medicines that are available in Japan for the treatment of various diseases. Given their therapeutic potential, they are often prescribed instead of, or alongside, allopathic medicines.Kampo medicines are becoming more widespread and have proven effective for the treatment of a variety of inflammatory diseases, such as colitis, dermatitis, myocarditis, hepatitis, cardiomyopathy, and nephritis. This book offers background on Japanese Kampo medicines, along with a compilation of the published scientific data for several different types of Kampo medicines. It is an evidence-based guide for all those involved in, or interested in, the research and practice of Kampo medicine.- Includes both preclinical and clinical data published from a variety of sources and compiled into one book- Provides insight for researchers and clinicians on which Kampo medicines will provide the least side effects and offer the most effective therapy for a particular illness- Offers important data that will help to inform future research and widen practice in this area

Chapter 1

Introduction to Japanese Kampo Medicines

Remya Sreedhar, Kenichi Watanabe, and Somasundaram Arumugam Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Niigata, Japan

Abstract

Traditional medicines or herbal medicines are known to have been the first choice for therapy and basic health services for patients from the very beginning of human history. Kampo medicines are Japanese herbal medicines of Chinese origin, but later adapted to the Japanese culture. Nowadays Kampo is widely used by health care practitioners in Japan and is integrated into the modern health care system. Nearly 148 different formulations of Kampo can be prescribed within the Japanese national health insurance system. Kampo practitioners are also able to use decoctions, selecting several herbs from among 243 kinds available under the insurance system. The therapeutic policies underlying Kampo medicine are based on the physical constitution and current symptoms of each patient. Kampo is a holistic, individualized treatment with a long tradition, and further research is needed to take this method of treatment into the global system.

Keywords

Clinical significance; Diagnosis; History; Japanese Kampo medicine; Traditional Chinese medicine; Treatment; Western medicine

Introduction

Traditional medicines or herbal medicines are known to have played an important role in providing first-line and basic health services for patients having numerous disease conditions from the very beginning of human history. This traditional medicine system (TMS) has different names in different cultures, like traditional Chinese medicine (TCM; China), Ayurveda (India), Japanese Kampo medicine (Japan), etc. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional medicine includes a diversity of health practices, approaches, knowledge, and beliefs and incorporates plant, animal, and/or mineral-based medicines; spiritual therapies; manual techniques; and exercises, which are applied singly or in combination to maintain well-being and to treat or prevent illness. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine established at the National Institutes of Health in the United States in October 1998 recategorized traditional medicine as complementary and alternative medicine.

Natural products and related structures are essential sources of new pharmaceuticals, because of the immense variety of functionally relevant secondary metabolites of plant or microbial species. Owing to the great development of chemical and pharmacological screening methods over the past several years, natural products and related structures continue to be extremely important elements of pharmacopoeias. Moreover the increased scientific significance and commercial potential of TMSs attract international attention and global market demands (Mehta et al., 2015; Ngo et al., 2013; Yu et al., 2006). In recent years, an increasing number of people are choosing herbal medicines or products, either alone or in combination with others, to improve their health. According to the WHO, 75% of the world’s population uses herbs for basic health care needs. Nowadays, many practitioners of conventional medicine do not hesitate to recommend herbs, herbal products, or complementary or alternative medicine therapy to their patients for the effective treatment of diseases (Pan et al., 2014).

Japanese Kampo Medicine

Kampo medicines are Japanese herbal medicines of traditional Chinese origin, but adapted to the Japanese culture. TCM is a complete system of healing that developed in China about 3000 years ago and reached a modified form about 2000 years ago. It includes herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, and massage, among other techniques. In recent decades, it has developed a popularity in China and, as a complementary medicine, throughout the world. TCM has been adopted in modified form in Far East countries like Japan and Korea. The methods and theories of diagnosis and treatment in TCM and Kampo differ from those of Western medicine. Western medicine follows the disease-based diagnosis, whereas TCM and Kampo follow a patient-based diagnosis (Yu et al., 2006).

History of Kampo Medicine

Traditional Japanese medicine has been used for 1500 years and includes Kampo, acupuncture, and acupressure (Shiatsu). The word Kampo (also written as Kanpo) refers to the herbal system used in China that developed during the Han Dynasty. Today the word is also used to describe a unique system of Japanese herbal medicine. Kampo is widely practiced in Japan, where it is fully integrated into the modern health care system (Watanabe et al., 2011). During the 5th and 6th centuries TCM was brought to Japan through the Korean Peninsula. Although Japanese practitioners initially followed TCM, later Japan started to modify the Chinese medicine mainly because the materials were unique to China and needed to be adjusted to conditions in Japan. During the Meiji Restoration, the focus was changed to Western countries and Western medicine was adopted, especially German medicine. As a consequence, Kampo medicine lost its importance and was almost forgotten. However, after the Second World War, the first modern Kampo specialists carried on the tradition from the Edo period. Kampo products, mainly herbal extracts, have been included in the Japanese National Health Insurance Drug List since 1971. A total of 148 Kampo herbal medicines are covered under the national health insurance system as of this writing (Ishibashi et al., 2005; Watanabe et al., 2011; Yu et al., 2006).

Therapeutic Policy of Kampo Medicine

The therapeutic policies underlying Kampo medicine are based on the physical constitution and current symptoms of each patient. Kampo therapy is referred to as “tailor-made medicine” and has properties similar to “mind and body” or psychosomatic medicine (Ushiroyama, 2013). Kampo medicine uses a treatment formulation corresponding to “Sho,” which is based on the patient’s symptoms at a given moment. The concept of Sho comes from the “Zheng” concept of TCM, but is simpler because of the simplified Kampo theory.

Sho is recognized in terms of:

1. Qi (well-being, energy, illness, vigor), blood, and water;

2. the eight principles (indicating the eight fundamental concepts of Yin–Yang, interior–exterior, cold–heat, and deficiency–excess);

3. the five parenchymatous viscera (all living and nonliving things in this world are composed of these five elements; in human beings, the five elements are allocated to five organs, liver, heart, spleen, lung, and kidney, which are in balanced interaction with one another);

4. six stages of disease (taiyang, shaoyang, yangming, taiyin, shaoyin, and jueyin).

Kampo physicians take the advantage of both Kampo and Western medicine diagnostic tools in most cases. The Kampo therapy consists of talking with the patient, an audio-olfactorial investigation, investigation of the tongue and skin, and palpation of the forearm and abdomen. Then the physician diagnoses the disease pattern and assigns it to a corresponding therapy (Efferth et al., 2007; Ishibashi et al., 2005; Terasawa, 1994; Yu et al., 2006).

Clinical Applications of Kampo Medicine

There is no separate license for the use of traditional medicine in Japan, because the Meiji government adopted a single license system for medical practitioners. Therefore, only Western physicians are allowed to prescribe Kampo drugs, and currently more than 70% of Japanese physicians are using Kampo medicine in their daily practice together with high-tech medical treatments such as organ transplantation and robotic operation (Iwase et al., 2012). Even though 148 Kampo formulas are listed under the Japanese insurance program, Kampo practitioners are also able to use decoctions, selecting several herbs from among 243 kinds available under the insurance system.

Research

Both basic and clinical research on Kampo medicine is actively pursued. In the clinical field, the main effort is on the application of Kampo in mo...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Biographies
• List of Contributors
• Chapter 1. Introduction to Japanese Kampo Medicines
• Chapter 2. Kampo Medicine for Human Homeostasis
• Chapter 3. General Mechanisms of Immunity and Inflammation
• Chapter 4. Antioxidant Property Is the Basic Feature of Kampo Medicine
• Chapter 5. Japanese Kampo Medicines for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Chapter 6. Significance of Japanese Kampo Medicine in Supportive Care of Heart Failure/Function
• Chapter 7. Kampo Medicine for Hypertension and Related Disorders
• Chapter 8. Japanese Kampo Medicines for Diabetes Mellitus
• Chapter 9. Japanese Kampo Medicine for Aging-Related Neurological Diseases
• Chapter 10. Antiinflammatory Effects of Kampo Medicines in Atopic Dermatitis
• Chapter 11. Japanese Kampo Medicine for Hepatic Inflammation
• Chapter 12. Kampo Medicines for Autoimmune Disorders: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune Diabetes Mellitus
• Chapter 13. Kampo Medicine for Renal Inflammatory Conditions
• Chapter 14. Kampo Medicines for Infectious Diseases
• Chapter 15. Drug Delivery Aspects of Herbal Medicines
• Chapter 16. Regulatory Aspects of Herbal Medicine
• Appendix
• Index