Chamber ; seconds

We investigated the change of “Kyo-kyo-kuman, ” after the administration of Saiko-zai (including Bupleuri Radix) or Non-saiko-zai (not including Bupleuri Radix). Subjects were 44 patients (7 males, 37 females, with a mean age of 42.8±16.4). We evaluated their levels of the Kyo-kyo-kuman, with blood biochemical tests, their depressive levels using Zung's Self Depression Scale (SDS), and their subjective well-being levels using the Subjective Well-being Inventory (SUBI) scale, at baseline and 3 and 6 months after the administration of Kampo formula. In the S-group (20 patients), administered Saiko-zai for 6 months, the K-scale (Keio's Kyo-kyo-kuman scale) scores showed significant decreases at 3 and 6 months. In the C-group (16 patients), administered Non-saiko-zai for 6 months, the K-scale scores did not change significantly. There was a statistically significant decrease in the K-scale scores of the patients of S-group as compared to the patients of C-group. The decreases in the left K-scale scores correlated significantly with the rises in plasma protein concentrations.

Kampo medicines have been used for treatment by an increasing number of doctors in recent years, and are becoming more frequently prescribed in combination with Western drugs. In the present study, we conducted a questionnaire of outpatients at the Kampo Clinic of Keio University Hospital in order to determine their perceptions and compliance regarding Kampo medicines.Ninety eight percent of patients used Kampo medicines in granular form, and approximately 30% of these patients reported difficulty in taking medicine due to reasons such as “bad taste”. Sixty percent of patients used Kampo medicines three times daily. Patients most often forgot to take afternoon doses, and so desired doses once daily. Furthermore, the same number of patients preferred Kampo medicines in tablet form as those who preferred Kampo medicines in granular form.The present findings clarified patients' perceptions toward Kampo medicines. Doctors and pharmacists must provide suitable treatment for patients by recognizing their perceptions of Kampo medicines.
Medicine, Kampo ; Clinic ; Use of ; percent ; therapeutic aspects

Eighteen untreated patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, all of whom had insomnia among their chief complaints, were randomly divided into two groups. For four weeks, nine patients (group A) were treated with neuroleptics (haloperidol) and Orengedokuto, and the remainder (group B) were treated with neuroleptics alone. Changes in schizophrenic symptoms and the number of doses of hypnotics (nitrazepam) were examined. In group A, the thought disturbance (conceptual disorganization, grandiosity, hallucinatory behavior, unusual thought content) aspect of schizophrenic symptoms improved (p=0.06), and the number of doses of hypnotics (mean=1.9) was smaller (p=0.06), as compared with group B (mean=7.7). These observations suggest that augmentation therapy with Orengedoku-to is potentially effective for the treatment of insomnia associated with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

We attempted to analyze “Kyo-kyo-kuman, ” using biochemical and psychiatric approaches. One hundred and twenty patients (23 males, 97 females) with a mean age of 42.4±16.2 years were evaluated for their levels of Kyo-kyo-kuman, using blood biochemical tests, depression levels as measured by Zung's Self Depression Scale (SDS), and subjective well-being levels as measured by the Subjective Well-being Inventory (SUBI) scale. Ninety-three patients (77.5%) had the Kyo-kyo-kuman. Plasma creatinine level and a score of factor 11 (general well-being-negative affect) of SUBI were significantly lower in patients who had the right Kyo-kyo-kuman than in patients who did not have the right Kyo-kyo-kuman. Scores of factor 9 (perceived illhealth) and factor 11 of SUBI were significantly lower in patients who had the left Kyo-kyo-kuman than in patients who did not have the left Kyo-kyo-kuman. In conclusion, patients under the strong stressors tended to have Kyo-kyo-kuman.

It has been experienced that Kampo, with its philosophy that every disease is psychosomatic in origin and that herbs affect both the psyche and the soma, sometimes has a dramatic effect on somatoform disorders, though there has been no study examining the effects of Kampo on somatoform disorders. In this preliminary study, the morbidity of somatoform disorders among patients who visited the Keio Kampo Clinic and the patients' psychological well-being were examined.
One hundred patients (17 males and 83 females; mean age [±SD], 39±16) who sought Kampo treatment for the first time at Keio University Hospital participated in this study. A Japanese checklist derived from the somatoform disorders schedule (version 1.1) was used to check the somatoform symptoms. To assess psychological well-being, the subjective well-being inventory (SUBI) was performed. The subjects' clinical records were examined afterwards to rule out symptoms which could be medically explained.
Somatoform patients and medically ill (non-somatoform) patients were 65% and 26% of the total respectively. The somatoform patients showed significantly lower SUBI positive scores than the non-somatoform patients (p=0.042), while SUBI negative scores were significantly higher (p=0.001). Among the somatoform patients, there was a negative correlation between numbers of somatoform symptoms and SUBI positive scores (r=0.267; p=0.032), and a positive correlation between numbers of somatoform symptoms and SUBI negative scores (r=0.337; p=0.006).
Following the SUBI scores through treatment courses may lead to a better understanding of the pathology of somatoform disorders and to more effective use of Kampo.