A case of 62 years old male presenting chronic hepatitis with accidental finding of carcinoma of gall bladder was reported. The traditional Chinese medical treatment has an excellent effect in improving the subjective and objective symptoms associated with chronic hepatitis, but because of this case revealed, in the case of early stage of carcinoma there is a steady growth of tumor even though the symptoms were improved. This indicates the need of thorough investigation with the standed westerm medical parameters while treating case with traditional Chinese medicine.

The relationship between tongue coating and Pancreas exocrine function was investigated in 45 cases by pancreatic function diagnostant. These cases were classified into three groups, “slight, ” “moderate” and “marked” according to the degree of thickness of tongue coating. Among the three groups, the mean rate of PABA excretion in urine tended to decrease as the degree of thickness of the tongue coating increased. That in the marked group was lower than in the slight group with statistical significance. The results suggest that thickness of tongue coating is partially related to pancreas exocrine function.

Two cases of bedridden patients effectively treated with the Kampo formula Ogikenchu-to are reported. The first case was a 76-year-old female. She had been admitted to a hospital for about five months due to subarachnoid hemorrhage and had been bedridden because of a lack of volition. She was transferred to Riverside Hospital for rehabilitation. At the time of her admittance, her legs were paralyzed with disuse atrophy and her activity of daily living was very restricted. The authors prescribed Ogikenchu-to for her. Her activity of daily living (ADL) showed improvement day by day, and she was finally able to walk with the help of a walking supporter.
The second case involved an 86-year-old female who was hospitalized in a clinic with a compression fracture of the lumbar spine. She had been bedridden for about two years. After being transferred to Riverside Hospital for rehabilitation. Ogikenchu-to was administered. Her willingness to participate in rehabilitation gradually improved. She regained the ability to sit up straight, and could walk with a cane. She now enjoys her life with her family.
These clinical case studies suggest that Ogikenchu-to may be useful in the treatment of aged bedridden patients.

In all but a few cases, the treatment for elderly patients must be conservative owing to the unavoidably poor general condition of the patients.
We report on three cases of long-term bedridden patients with acute cholecystitis or cholangitis who were effectively treated with Kampo prescriptions. An 86-year-old male with choledecholithiasis and acute cholangitis responded to Inchin-ko-to. When he repeatedly relapsed after the discontinuance of Kampo treatment, Inchin-ko-to was effective, and Inchin-shingyaku-to successfully improved his general condition. In an 89-year-old male with acute cholecystitis, Dai-saiko-to extracts and Bukuryo-shigyaku-to were effective. An 88-year-old female with cholecystolithiasis and acute cholecystitis responded to Dai-saiko-to and Bukuryo-shigyaku-to.
Most elderly patients are Inkyo-sho (Yin-deficient). But, when they are suffering from acute sickness, it is important to treat them according to the principle of “Senkyukokan (treating acute symptoms before treating chronic internal symptoms).” The severe sickness is treated first, and then the mild phase of the disease is treated.

A Kampo formulation, Senkinho-Karo-to, is considered to be effective for chest pain or discomfort. However, there have been few case reports concerning this formulation. Here, we report four cases of patients suffering from chest pain or discomfort that were successfully treated with Senkinho-Karo-to. We compared the clinical features of these four cases where Senkinho-Karo-to was effective with those of four other cases where Senkinho-Karo-to was ineffective. The cases where Senkinho-Karo-to was effective had the following features: Deficiency, feeling of spasmodic uprising heat, shoulder stiffness, deficient pulse, impressions of teeth on the rim, palpitation of the abdominal aorta in the supra-umbilical region, reduced tension in the lower abdomen, tenderness in the para-umbilical region, and Ki-depression.

During a four-year period from 1994 to 1998, we treated 46 cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with Kampo medicine. Clinical disease activity of RA was assessed using the Lansbury activity index (L. I.). After a year of treatment with Kampo medicine, 20 patients showed over 75% improvement by L. I Eleven cases were considered to be non-responders. Twenty-six cases out of 37 who had been treated with Western medicine were able to discontinue using, or reduce reliance upon, analgesic drugs and steroid hormones following Kampo treatment. Steinbrocker's functional classification of RA was improved from 2.3 to 1.8.
We used Aconiti Tuber for 40 patients, and 13 cases showed aconiti poisoning. Two cases represented adverse reactions to Astragali Radix.
In this study, Boi-ogi-to-ka-bushi was the most effective for RA, and Keishi-ka-ryo jutsubu-to was the second most effective. Efficacy of Boi-ogi-to was enhanced with large quantities of Sinomeni Caulis et Rhizoma and Astragali Radix. We mixed Boi-ogi-to with Keishi-ka-ryo jutsubu-to when Keishi-ka-ryo-jutsubu-to did not work well. RA is one of the representative diseases that respond to Kampo medicine.

Dai-kankyo-gan has traditionally been used for great resistance for tenderness upon pressure in the epigastric region (Shinkahiko) and rigidity of nape (Kohai-kyo). We treated two cases with Dai-kankyo-gan for years.
Case 1 was a 75-year-old male patient. He had been experiencing shortness of breath after slight exertion since 1986, and had been treated with theophyline, bronchodilator, and expectorants, as well as prednisolone for emphysema and pneumoconiosis. After receiving Dai-kankyo-gan, the patients Kohai-kyo and dyspnea improved and he was able to stop taking prednisolone. It is well known that Dai-kankyo-gan makes Shinkahiko and Kohai-kyo better. In this case, it improved throat discomfort as well.
Case 2 was a 56-year-old female patient who had been suffering from stiff shoulders and headaches. After receiving Dai-kankyo-gan, Kohai-kyo improved and the thick coating on the tongue was normalized.
Shinkahiko, which depends on stasis of body fluid, is usually normalized with the improvement of subjective symptoms. But in these cases, it was not cured.

In order to evaluate the diagnostic values of sprash sound of the abdomen and plain X-ray findings of the stomach for “INAI-TEISUI” (the water-imbalance syndrome), correlation between these two factors and the symptoms associated with the “INAI-TEISUI” were surveyed statistically.
The study revealed that sprash sound of the abdomen was closely related with the abdominal symptoms of the water-imbalance syndrome, and that the type A of the stomach characterized by blowted, atonic wall with prominent longitudinal folds in the plain X-ray findings was related with systemic symptoms of the water-imbalance syndrome such as dizziness, tinnitus, rhinorrhea and sneezing.
These results suggest that both sprash sound of the abdomen and plain X-ray findings of the stomach are useful for the diagnosis of the “INAI-TEISUI”, though they give a slight different information.