Volume 12, Number 2 | Summer 2017

Clinical Report 2 (Kampo Medicine)
A Case of Bad Health Condition from her First Delivery
Comprehensively Treated with Kampo Medicine, which Led
to the Next Pregnancy

There is no abnormalities.
Oriental medical Observation
Pulses; profoundly palpable,Tongue; faint red covered with mild white furring

Mizuho Kobayashi

Abdomen; moderate abdominal tension (3/5) There

Division of Kampo, Machida City Hospitalare mild tenderness in both subcostal region(KYOKYOKUMAN) and mild tenderness in bilateral

Abstract
I report I treated a case who got bad condition
after her first delivery comprehensively with Kampo
medicines. Subsequently she got pregnant withKampo medicine contains Rhubarb (Rhei Rhizoma)

lower para-umbilical region (the tender point ofOKETSU)
Clinical course
I prescribed shoseiryuto (Tsumura & Co., Ltd.,

which is generally avoided for woman who intend toTokyo,

be pregnant because of its purgative effect. Restoring

pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) 6g and kamishoyosan

her condition was most important for the pregnancy(Tsumura & Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) 5g twice a dayeven with Rhubarb. Interestingly, once she gotJapan)

5gwithkikyosekko(Kotaro

separately for four weeks. Her rhinitis has improved

pregnant, she couldn’t take the medicines because of

but premenstrual syndrome remained. I changed thediarrhea, which means the pregnancy made aprescription to shosaikoto (Tsumura & Co., Ltd.,

dynamic change in her body and her bodyTokyo, Japan) 5g and keishibukuryogan (Tsumura &demonstrated she didn’t need them any more.

Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) 5g twice a day. Theserelieved

Introduction
Pregnancy, delivery and taking care of baby bringabout not a few damages of woman’s body. Especiallyin the late childbearing women often get extremely
tired not only physically but mentally, which may
induce various bad conditions later. But it is often
settled just a fatigue or not serious matter or not“disease”.

In the Kampo therapy “disease” is not

the only target to treat. The coordination of the bodyas a whole by Kampo medicines cure bad conditionsand “disease” as well. Therefore Kampo therapy is
the optimum treatment for women’s problems
connected with menstruation and pregnancy.

headacheanddizzinessbeforethemenstruation. She caught a cold regularly once amonth and I noticed it happened during herovulatory phase. Her susceptibility to infection has
disappeared with shosaikoto (Tsumura & Co., Ltd.,Tokyo, Japan) 5g and unkeito (Tsumura & Co., Ltd.,Tokyo,Japan)

5g,

which

gave

her

regularmenstruations without any trouble. Accordingly she
had expectation of her second pregnancy a few times
in a year. After one year and three months she
started feeling irritable or depressed before themenstruation because of not getting pregnant
contrary to her expectation. There were theresistance with tenderness in her lower bilateral

Case History

umbilical regions. And she had strain in defecation.

38-year-old woman visited to my clinic suffering

I prescribed saikokaryukotsuboreito (Tsumura & Co.,

from the premenstrual syndrome and the allergicLtd., Tokyo, Japan) 5g and tokakujokito (Tsumura &rhinitis that both became much worse after theCo., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) 5g twice a day. Her irritabledelivery of her first child one and half years ago. Sheor depressed mood before the menstruation wasoften has headache and dizziness for one week before

relieved. After two months with these medicines,

the menstruation which has restarted recently.

finally she got pregnant. She said she stopped taking

Physical examination) 161cm 52kg

these because of a sudden diarrhea as soon as she got

Bp106/68 p74

pregnant.

16

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

Volume 12, Number 2 | Summer 2017second pregnancy. This indicates her unbalanced

Discussion
There are great differences between Kampo

condition was corrected by these two medicines. But

medicine and Western one. In the Kampo therapy,

after a while she started feeling irritable or

the assessment of the patient’s physical and mental

depressed before the menstruation because of

condition as a whole human body is essential for thedisappointed hopes of second pregnancy. This time

diagnosis and the determination of the medicine.

the stagnation and confusion or disorder of Ki madeSymptoms which patients complain are consideredanother unbalanced condition with bad circulation ofas just the expressive form of their condition as ablood, which I speculated from the tenderness in her

result of losing the balance of the constituent

lower bilateral umbilical regions and her lightelements of the body, such as Yin and Yang or Ki

constipation.

(kind of the spiritual energy), blood and bodily fluids.

ThereforeIchangedthemedicines

to

Therefore one or a few Kampo medicine can curesaikokaryukotsuboreito and tokakujokito to drive

many symptoms of the patient by correcting theand assist the circulation of Ki and blood. Finally she

unbalanced condition.

got pregnant after two months taking with theseDuring the pregnancy, delivery and feeding

medicines. tokakujokito contains rhubarb which isbabies on mother’s milk, there are drastic changes ofgenerally avoided for woman who intend to be

the women’s body of not only bodyweight but

pregnant because of its purgative effect. Moreover

circulation or hormones. Indeed these changes aretokakujokito itself is often denied to woman who

not pathological, but can easily disturb the balance

intend to be pregnant, because its strong efficacy ofof the constituent elements of the body anddriving of blood circulation could prevent theconsequently bring some bad conditions especiallyimplantation.

for the women who gave birth of the first child later.

As a result restoring her condition was mostKamishoyosan is often used for the premenstrual

important for the pregnancy even with tokakujokito.

syndrome which is considered to be mainly caused

Interestingly, once she got pregnant, she couldn’t

by the stagnation of Ki and blood. But this casetake the Kampo medicines because of sudden

didn’t respond it. To strengthen the force to drive thediarrhea, which means the pregnancy made acirculation of Ki and blood I changed the medicine to

dynamic change in her body and her body

shosaikoto and keishibukuryogan. With these she

demonstrated she didn’t need them anymore. In thewas relieved of the headache and dizziness before

Kampo therapy, it is indispensable to assess thethe menstruation. According to the text of “Shang-patient’s physical and mental state as a wholehan-lun”, shosaikoto applies to infection just before

human body, and more important, the physical andor during the menstruation, but she was still

mental state changes in a short period even by thevulnerable to infection before the menstruation. Itherapy.

considered this was because her body struggled toprepare the menstruation and couldn’t spare frominfection.
Then I changed keishibukuryogan to unkeito
which is originally applied for the women on thebrink of menopause to support their body, chiefly
reproductive parts. Shosaikoto and unkeito hasbrought her regular menstruations without any
trouble for a year, since when she expected her

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

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