Drug Information Q&A Q4. What is Kampo medicine?

Answer

Kampo drugs are medicines used in "Kampo medicine," which originated in China and developed independently in Japan. The parts of plants, animals, minerals, and other naturally occurring substances that have medicinal properties are called "crude drugs," and basically they are made by combining two or more of them. They are familiar medicines that are prescribed in hospitals.

Explanation

Kampo medicine is a Japanese traditional medicine that originated in China, came directly from China or via the Korean Peninsula, and developed uniquely in Japan. Traditional Chinese medicine is called Chinese medicine in present-day China and Korean medicine in Korea, and although they share the same origin, they form a medical system different from that of Chinese medicine. The medicines used are called "Chinese medicine" and "Korean medicine," respectively, and are distinguished from Chinese herbal medicine.

The name "Chinese medicine" originated in the mid-Edo period, when medicine introduced from the Netherlands (Arlanda) was called "Ranpo" and conventional Japanese medicine was called "Kampo" (derived from Chinese and Han).

Chinese herbal medicine is composed of "crude drugs," which are parts of plants, animals, or minerals found in nature that have medicinal properties, usually in combination with several others. For example, a Chinese herbal medicine called "Keishi-tou" is made from a combination of the herbal medicines gui shi, peony, da zao zao, licorice, and ginger.

Kampo medicine is based on the concept of holistic medicine, which comprehensively treats patients from both the physical and mental aspects, and on the idea of enhancing the natural healing power of the human body. For this reason, Chinese herbal medicine is effective in treating symptoms that originate from the patient's constitution (e.g., sensitivity to cold, weakness, etc.) and disorders that do not show up on tests (e.g., symptoms of menopausal disorders). When the combination of crude drugs is changed, the medicinal effect of one crude drug is enhanced or its toxicity is suppressed, resulting in a significant change in efficacy and safety. In other words, the medicinal effects of a Chinese herbal medicine are not the sum of the medicinal effects of individual crude drugs, but the combination of the constituent crude drugs.

Folk medicines are often confused with Chinese herbal medicines. Folk medicines are medicinal herbs that have been handed down and used by people since ancient times, such as senburi and gennoshouko.

Herbal and folk medicines differ in many ways. Many folk medicines consist of a single herb.

Folk medicines became widely known around the Muromachi period (1333-1573) through the efforts of priests and doctors, and were compiled into a book on first-aid treatment, Kyumin Myoyaku ("My Medicine for the People"), by the order of Mitsukuni Tokugawa, a feudal lord of the Edo period. This book has long been used as a medicine book for the common people.

In today's medical practice, Chinese herbal medicines are mainly extract preparations made from the dried extract of decoction of herbal medicines in granule form. In addition to the advantages for patients such as "no need to decoct," "easy to carry," "easy to take when traveling," and "easy to store," uniform quality preparations are prescribed to many people, enabling a large amount of data to be accumulated and leading to the clarification of scientific evidence (evidence).

Chinese herbal medicines are approved for use in modern medical practice, and there are 148 ethical drugs prescribed by physicians.

Chart/Column

4｜Traditional Medicine Based on Herbal Medicines

Although they share the same ancient and Chinese origins, modern Japanese, Chinese, and Korean traditional medicine have evolved into distinctly different medical systems. In each system, multiple herbal medicines are skillfully combined to produce superior medicinal effects.

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