The form of modern Kampo Medicine is made after the influence of the schools at past time. This medicine was at first imitation of TCM in China and slowly had acquired the own Japanese form. At 16 century, Dosan Manase introduced the system of TCM from Ming-China to Japan successfully and made a great school called Goei-School. Late stage of 17 century, the influence of “Shang han Lun” research boom in China came to Japan and the new school called Koho-school which was based on this Classic has established. Especially Todo Yoshimasu researched the prescriptions in this book and invented new system named “Ho sho so tai”. After then, doctors had to compromise the thinking of both school. The form of eclectic school was so various that the doctors made individual medicines. After the Meiji Restoration, Kampo Medicine was out of political system but soon obtained revival. The several great doctors of Kampo Medicine have written “Practice of Kampo Medicine” at 1941 which made the base of the modern Kampo Medicine. Current Kampo Medicine adopted a lot of modern medical researches and there are new schools which are different from the past time.
Medicine, Kampo ; Schools ; China ; Medical History ; Japan

In the clause of kososan (Xiāng sū sàn), which was added in “Wazaikyokuho (Hé jì jú fāng)” during the shàoxīng period (1131-1162), there is an anecdote that only the clan used this prescription showed defense against the epidemics at that time. Jiangnan area is the near place where COVID-19 became a pandemic in 2020. Considering these backgrounds and the similarities between the patterns (TM1) from the view point of Kampo medicine and prescriptions including kososan listed in the chapter of Cold Damage (Shanghan) of “Wazaikyokuho,” I hypothesized that formulas from this chapter may be effective for COVID-19. Many prescriptions including kososan in the chapter of Cold Damage were developed for the treatment of epidemics in the Jiangnan area during the Southern Song Dynasty. Epidemics were common at that time and place, and the prescriptions were left for posterity. The Kampo patterns (TM1) of COVID-19 were considered to have characteristics similar to those of the epidemics of the 11-13th century. The formulas including kososan from the chapter of Cold Damage in “Wazaikyokuho” may be effective against COVID-19, which warrants further investigation.

Daily ; experience (practice) ; Medical ; Clinical

Following the Chinese-led global standardization of Chinese medicine, the 9 th edition of the European Pharmacopoeia, published in 2016, listed 66 kinds of crude drugs that are used in traditional Chinese medicine. By the spread of dietary supplements in the United States, the number of herbal medicines listed in United States Pharmacopoeia is tended to be increasing. In this article, we compare the names and origins of crude drugs listed in the European and American Pharmacopoeias and used in ethical Kampo extract formulation with those described in the pharmacopoeias of Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. There were 4 crude drugs that had the same origins and names in the pharmacopoeia of these 6 countries, but only Coix Seed had the same English name. The pharmacopoeia of the 5 countries except the United States had 19 crude drugs with the same origin, but only Platycodon Root and Eucommia Bark had the same English and Latin names. For other crude drugs, the names and origins in the pharmacopoeia of each country were different. When scientists in each country disseminate the information about crude drugs used in their own countries to the world, it is necessary for them to describe the original plant scientific names and their medicinal parts that are unified by International Code of Nomenclature for plants instead of English or Latin names of crude drugs.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of tegafur–uracil (UFT), a prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, plus cisplatin and dexamethasone in patients with docetaxel-refractory prostate cancers.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with docetaxel-refractory prostate cancer were administered oral UFT plus intravenous cisplatin (UFT-P therapy) and dexamethasone. Treatment responses were assessed monthly via prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level measurements. Treatment-related adverse events and overall survival were also assessed.

Results: UFT-P therapy resulted in decreased PSA levels in 14 (56%) patients and increased PSA levels in 11 (44%). In patients with increased PSA levels, 7 (64%) of the 11 patients displayed decreased PSA doubling times. The UFT-P therapy response rate was 84% (21/25 patients). Imaging studies revealed that tumor shrinkage during UFT-P therapy occurred in 1 patient in whom bilateral hydronephrosis caused by lymph node metastasis improved. The median survival time from docetaxel initiation was 36 months. In UFT-P-treated patients, the median PSA progression and overall survival times were 6 and 14 months, respectively. UFT-P treatment-related adverse events were mild diarrhea, general fatigue, and anorexia. Treatment was not discontinued for any of the patients. UFT-P therapy did not cause serious hepatic or renal dysfunction or pancytopenia.

Conclusions: UFT-P therapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients with docetaxel-refractory prostate cancer, although large-scale, multicenter, prospective studies are needed to validate these findings.

Since students who would like to study Kampo medicine more have no opportunity to communicate each other in Northern Japanese Universities, we newly started joint study conferences held by medical students in 2013. The objectives of this paper are to report on these annually held student-based Kampo study conferences in the Hokkaido and Tohoku areas, and the ways each university studies Kampo medicine. In the conference, the students reported on their club activities. Then they studied the history of Kampo medicine and simulation of abdominal diagnosis, and performed group work on case reports together. The number of student participants in these conferences has tripled over 3 years from 18 to 58 (for a total of 111 participants). All members were satisfied with the content. And this reflects medical students' need for a wider perception of Kampo medicine, rather than a limited one gained in their university club activities. We hope this conference will play a major role in other nationwide student-based Kampo study conferences in the years to come.

The consumption and sales of Kampo products, as well as the crude drugs that make up the products, have been increasing recently. However, the Kampo industry has been exhibiting a long-term decline due to the rise in price of imported crude drugs and reduction in standard prices of crude drugs by the Japanese National Health Insurance scheme. As the production of crude drug in Japan has been decreasing for the past thirty years, efforts have been made to improve the situation. Although the production of Aizu Ginseng decreased from 153 metric tons to 8 metric tons in Fukushima, university research institutes have initiated research on expansion of the farm field for Ginseng and reduction in a cultivation term. In Nara, farmers, pharmaceutical and food manufacturers, and university research institutes, aiming to develop new products using Yamato Angelica root, organized a joint council and have been working together to establish integrated systems from cultivation to sales. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and Japan Kampo Medicines Manufacturers Association have held local meetings with farmers and pharmaceutical companies in different areas throughout Japan over the past three years from fiscal year 2013. In order to reduce national healthcare costs by Kampo medicine, it is necessary to upgrade the health care system where not only Kampo extract products but also medicinal plants as raw materials including decoctions can be used. Discussions on measures to cover the costs of domestic production of crude drugs should be required.