ABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complete system of healing that developed in China about 3000 years ago, and includes herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion and massage, etc. In recent decades the use of TCM has become more popular in China and throughout the world. Traditional Japanese medicine has been used for 1500 years and includes Kampo-yaku (herbal medicine), acupuncture and acupressure. Kampo is now widely practised in Japan and is fully integrated into the modern health-care system. Kampo is based on TCM but has been adapted to Japanese culture. In this paper we review the history and characteristics of TCM and traditional Japanese medicine, i.e. the selection of traditional Chinese herbal medicine treatments based on differential diagnosis, and treatment formulations specific for the 'Sho' (the patient's symptoms at a given moment) of Japanese Kampo--and look at the prospects for these forms of medicine.
Subject(s)
Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Medicine, Kampo , China , Diagnosis, Differential , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use , Evidence-Based Medicine , History, Ancient , Humans , Japan , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/statistics & numerical data , Medicine, Kampo/historyABSTRACT
Components of Agaricus blazei Murill have been demonstrated to have a wide range of immunopotentiating activities. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of A. blazei Murill upon activation of the complement system in human serum in vitro. Additional studies were performed to determine the cytotoxic effect of complement-opsonized particles of A. blazei Murill against human tumor cells in culture. A fine particle of A. blazei Murill (ABP), prepared by mechanical disruption, was used throughout the experiments. ABP activated the human complement system via the alternative pathway in human serum. Activation of the alternative pathway was both time- and dose-dependent. When the particles from fruiting bodies of A. blazei Murill (ABP-F) were reacted with human serum, the formation of complement-opsonized ABP, iC3b-ABP-F complexes, and binding of the complexes to human peripheral blood monocytes, were demonstrated in vitro by immunofluorescence. Further, the resident human peripheral nucleated cells incubated in the presence of iC3b-ABP-F complexes inhibited the proliferation of human tumor cell line TPC-1 in vitro.
Subject(s)
Agaricus , Complement Pathway, Alternative/drug effects , Adult , Complement C3b/metabolism , Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic , Dextran Sulfate/pharmacology , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Fungal Structures/chemistry , Humans , Immune Sera/metabolism , Immunoelectrophoresis , Male , Monocytes/drug effects , Phagocytosis , Protein Binding/drug effects , Time Factors , Tumor Cells, CulturedABSTRACT
Post-operative ileus (PI) is an inevitable adverse consequence of abdominal surgical procedures. We performed a randomized study of the effects of the herbal medicine dai-kenchu-to (DKT) on 24 patients with PI. Patients received either 15 g of oral DKT or placebo daily for 14 days. The effects on upper gastrointestinal motility, frequency of secondary operation and recurrence of PI were investigated. The frequency of surgical operation was significantly lower in patients receiving DKT compared with placebo. Oral administration of DKT was clinically effective for PI in reducing both the need for further surgery and the recurrence of PI.