Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder marked by epidermal proliferation. It is extremely difficult to cure. Although Kampo has frequently been employed to treat this condition, the Sho distribution and frequency of the presence of Oketsu (stagnated blood) have not been clarified.
Using the Maeda Oketsu checklist, which is based on the Terasawa diagnostic criteria, 72 patients with psoriasis were examined. Thirty-one patients (43%) felt into the deficient (Kyo) Sho category (0-8 points), 36 (50%) were classified as intermediate (Chukan) Sho, and 5 (7%) patients were placed in the excessive (Jitsu) Sho category. Thus, a predominance of excessive Sho was not confirmed. Rather, the frequency was highest for the intermediate Sho, which is close to the distribution of healthy subjects.
Thirty of the patients (41.7%) had high Oketsu scores (40 points or above), and 30 (41.7%) had intermediate Oketsu scores (21-39 points), indicating a high level of Oketsu.
According to Spearman's rank-difference correlation, there is a significant positive correlation between the Oketsu score and treatment score (degrees of a variety of previous treatments for psoriasis patients).