The number of senile eye cataract cases increases year by year. Recent developments in new operation techniques have brought more safety and ease i.e. ultrasonic phacoemulsication and lens replacement. However, some complications of these techniques result in troublesome outcomes. In this paper the authors report a female patient aged 74 years old who suffered from severe photophobia after cataract surgery, which was successfully treated with the Kampo formulation, ryokeikansoto. Such troublesome cases tend to be neglected to in medical journal publications when the background of the complaint is unknown.

We reported the case of a 9-year-old girl who complained of irritability with sounds, headache, nausea and ease of fatigability, who was successfully treated with the Kampo formulation, ryokito. Her irritability with sound occurred following bilateral ear pain. Her headache, nausea and antipathy towards smells appeared in conjunction with aggravation of this pain symptom. We recognized this patient as having a Ki-distribution imbalance, and so prescribed ryokito as a decoction. Following her use of this formulation, her complaints improved remarkably within about 8 weeks.

Previously, the authors reported that a painful point at the epigastrium may be closely related with the term “shinkashiketsu” for the Kampo formulation saikokeishito (SKT) which was described in the textbook, shoukanron. In order to find conclusive evidence for our hypothesis, we tried SKT in four patients, whose chief complaints were headache, epigastralgia with headache, irritable bowel syndrome, and anorexia due to Behcet's disease. In this trial, we obtained satisfactory clinical results, which strongly suggest that the symptom of a painful epigastral point correlates with the term shinkashiketsu in the shoukanron description.

A 67 year-old women who suffered from painful palms and soles with burning sensation for 2 years was treated. At first, she visited the department of dermatology and then consulted our department. The authors considered these symptoms as already being described in the great classic Kinkiyoryaku (Chin Keiu Yao Lueh). We then prescribed shokenchuto, which resulted immediate clinical improvement. The authors have again realized that the classical textbook is based on proper clinical observations that are useful today.

Recently, the authors experienced five cases of chronic primary headache in children which were successfully treated with shokenchuto. This report describes the details of these five cases and results of references in past literature. The common physical findings in these five cases were soft abdominal walls with a spasmodic bilateral m. rectus abdominis. There was only one case report of headache which was successfully treated with shokenchuto. We believe that our case report sheds light on a new aspect of shokenchuto, which might be a useful formulation for chronic headache. In this paper, we also speculate about the mechanism of this formulation for headache from the view point of former research showing the relationship between brain orexin behavior, and ghrelin which is induced from the digestive system.

Chukenchuto is often reported to be useful for constipation. We experienced patients with diarrhea or loose stool, successfully treated with chukenchuto. In this report, five cases are documented. Of these, four cases did not present with constipation. We emphasize that chukenchuto is also effective for diarrhea or loose stool. Other clinical manifestations such as gargling sound or abdominal distension, tension of abdominal rectus muscle, and feeling of cold are common in cases where chukenchuto is effective.

We experienced a patient, who complained severe fatigue in spite of adequate hormonal supplement after pituitary tumor removal, was successfully treated with Kampo therapy. The pharmacological effect of this Kampo formulation i.e. bukuryoshigyakuto is still unknown, but this formulation has been used for pre-shock conditions in the terminal stage of infectious diseases. According to the description in the classic textbook, this formulation is suggested to encourage metabolic function and maintain core temperature of the human body. The authors propose that Kampo medicine is a hopeful alternative way in the management of such patients.

We report a case of severe headache associated with cerebellar infarction was successfully treated with Kampo therapy. The patient complained of severe headache and vertigo in spite of standard therapy after the decompression craniectomy. However, his symptoms were relieved immediately by administration of goreisan. The pharmacological effect of Kampo formulation i.e. goreisan is still unknown, but this formulation has been used for headache with edema, vertigo and vomiting. According to the classic textbook, this formulation has a potential to improve water imbalance in the body, including brain edema. This Kampo medicine is seemed to be an alternative to manage such patients.

A Kampo formulation boibukuryoto is originally described in the classic textbook “Kinkiyouryaku,” which indication is involuntary muscle movement (IMM) of extremities, similar to the movement of leaves of an elm tree. We experienced two cases of IMM successfully treated with boibukuryoto. This report presented the details of these two cases of IMM and the results of surface electromyogram (EMG). There has never been a report of boibukuryoto for the treatment of IMM. The results of EMG indicate that IMM may be associated with myokymia.

The authors experienced two cases of trigeminal neuralgia successfully treated by a Kampo formulation tokishigyakukagoshuyushokyoto (TSG). Case 1 is 70-year-old woman who complained of severe pain on the right side of her face. She was administered carbamazepine. It was effective for the facial pain but she could not take it continuously because of side effect, namely ataxia. Therefore, we tried to administer TSG. This Kampo formulation proved effective, and her pain was controlled without carbamazepine. Case 2 is 69-year-old woman who complained of localized pain on the right side of her face. In this case TSG alone was effective.