The clinical use of Kampo medicines (traditional Japanese herbal treatments) for controlling cancer patients’ symptoms in Japan: a national cross-sectional survey

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Satoru Iwase¹  Akio Inui²  Takuhiro Yamaguchi³  Kiyoshi Terawaki⁴  Yasuhito Uezono⁴  Tempei Miyaji⁵ 

[1] Department of Palliative Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 7-3-1 Hongo, 113-0033, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan;Department of Psychosomatic Internal Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, 890-8520, Kagoshima, Japan;Division of Biostatistics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, 980-8574, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan;Division of Cancer Pathophysiology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, 104-0045, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan;Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, 113-0033, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan;

关键词: Kampo;    Kampo medicine;    Palliative care;    Symptom management;    Survey;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-12-222

 received in 2012-05-15, accepted in 2012-11-13,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundKampo medicines are traditional Japanese medicines produced from medicinal plants and herbs. Even though the efficacy of Kampo medicines for controlling cancer-related symptoms is being reported, their actual nationwide clinical use has not been comprehensively investigated. We aimed to investigate physicians’ recognition of Kampo medicines and their clinical use for cancer patients in the field of palliative care.MethodsA cross-sectional self-administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 549 physicians working in palliative care teams at 388 core cancer treatment hospitals and 161 certified medical institutions that have palliative care units (PCUs).ResultsValid responses were obtained from 311 physicians (response rate, 56.7%) who were evenly distributed throughout the country without significant geographical biases. Kampo medicines were prescribed for controlling cancer-related symptoms by 64.3% of the physicians. The symptoms treated with Kampo medicines were numbness/hypoesthesia (n = 99, 49.5%), constipation (n = 76, 38.0%), anorexia/weight loss (n = 72, 36%), muscle cramps (n = 71, 35.5%) and languor/fatigue (n = 64, 32.0%). Regarding open issues about prescription, 60.7% (n = 173) of the physicians raised the issue that the dosage forms need to be better devised.ConclusionsTo increase the clinical use of Kampo medicines, more evidence from clinical studies is necessary. In addition, their mechanisms of action should be clarified through laboratory studies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Iwase et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.