Volume 12, Number 2 | Summer 2017

Integrating Kampo and Evidence-BasedMedicine (10)Living along with the Patient until the End of the Life
Hiromichi Yasui
Japan Institute of TCM Research

Although this is a narrative essay which may notconvey an objective scientific point of view, I would
really like to tell this story to you. This is a story
based on a memo written by my close friend, Dr.
Hideaki Yamaguchi (working at Tosei General
Hospital, Seto, Japan, at that time). I believe thatthe content of the story is so profound that it will be
helpful to all those who are involved in Kampo
treatment.
Amaledeveloped

idiopathic

interstitial pneumonia at the age of 20 when he wasa second-year student at a university. He had beentreated at a large outside general hospital; however,no improvement was noted, and at the age of 21, hewas referred to and admitted to Department ofRespiratory Medicine and Allergy, Tosei General
Hospital, one of the leading hospitals to treat
diseasesinJapan.

Experimental

treatment along with standard therapy, however, did
not improve his symptoms and his condition
gradually worsened. Because he could not find a newtreatment in the respiratory department, he wasintroduced to my department of Kampo medicine
when he was 23 years old.
I treated him with various decoctions combining
herbal medicine from the viewpoint of Kampo
medicine. His symptoms differed frequently, andeach time, he complained to me of his various
symptoms, and sometimes, he told me of his life. I
answeredvisited me at my hospital. She found a blog entry
that was left in his computer, which was written
three days before his death, and she brought it to me.
There was a written message as follows: "Dr.
Yamaguchi come to me with his sincere eagerness tocure the disease until this very end. I am grateful tomeet you, Dr. Yamaguchi. Thank you." This
statement saved me from helplessness and taught
me another meaning of Kampo Medicine.
As a result, Kampo medicine was hardly effectivefor him. All I did was to listen to what he said every
time, and make a subtle change to the prescription
in response to his complaint. When he saw myresponse, he might feel that this doctor was trying to

24-year-oldrespiratory

One month after his death, suddenly his motherone

byone,anddevised

Kampo

prescriptions. Such a clinical praxis continued for along time and scarce improvement was noted. Abouta year later, he died of respiratory failure due tobacterial pneumonia. I thought that I was doing mybest over the past year; however, the treatment

tackle his illness seriously. In every situation,
Kampo medicine can propose treatment according to
the condition of the patient. Apart from its
effectiveness, Kampo medicine can support the hopeto live until the very end. This may be more
important than what we imagine.
Looking at this memo, I would like add this article
to the serial essays. So far, in this series I havedescribed four medical classifications, and a social
classification which is handled differently from them.
However, the case mentioned here cannot beclassified. Nonetheless, I absolutely wanted tointroduce this story because the characteristics ofKampo medicine are well described in this case. As
written in Dr. Yamaguchi‘s memo, Kampo medicine
can suggest formulae and prescriptions according tothe patients’ symptoms. It is all the same regardlessof what kind of disease; whichever stage it is in.
Perhaps this is not limited to Kampo medicine.
Probably the same thing can be done if you can talkwith a patient, and you can propose treatment
accordingly.

However,

medicine

isoutstandingly superior to other treatments in thisrespect. I am delighted to dare to understand thereasons posted here as out of Classifications. I thankDr. Yamaguchi for this memo.

resulted in failure, and I suffered from helplessness.

6KampoThe Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

Volume 12, Number 2 | Summer 2017

Postscript: When I sent this essay to Dr. Yamaguchi,
the following reply came.
“Sometimes he got questions about life (such as“what is the meaning of life?”). I answered as muchas I could, but if I did not came up with treatment
plan, it might have been difficult to face this patient.
I think that both of us may have shared a little hope”.

The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

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