Volume 9, Number 2 | Summer 2014

Clinical Report 2 (Kampo Medicine)
A Case in Which Shokenchuto was Effective for a 10-year-old Girl
who was Easily Tired, Seneitive to Cold, and had a Weak
Digestive Function
Hideaki Yamaguchi
Tosei General Hospital

Case: 10-year-old girl
Chief complaint: Easily tired, easily chilled
History of present illness: The patient tended toeat very little and was sensitive to cold sinceinfancy. She became easily tired after entering
primary school, and had many days of absence(more than 40 days in a year). It also bothered herthat she could not swim in the pool because she
felt cold even in the summer. For this reason, shevisited us in mid-July (summertime), desiring
Kampo therapy.
In a medical interview, she noted that she isextremely sensitive to cold, her lips turned purple
when she was cold, she tired easily, sufferedfrequent stomach aches, had no appetite, disliked
cold foods, was prone to coughing, and had anervous temperament. Appearance-wise, she had
fair skin, was quiet, and had cold hands and feet.
Diagnosis: Spleen yang deficiency (unable toproduce sufficient heat due to weak digestivefunction)
Treatment/Progress:
To warm the body and improve the digestive
function, shokenchuto extract was administered 3times/day.
1 month later (August): Slight improvements wereseen in the patient’s tendency to tire easily andcold sensation, but she still could not swim in thepool.
2 months later (September): An improvement wasseen in the patient’s appetite. She became able tokeep up with the school schedule.
6 months later (January): The patient tended tofeel some coldness, but was otherwise well, andhad no absence during the second term.

12 months later (July): The patient was very well,and became able to swim in the pool. Her fatigue
also disappeared.
The treatment was completed after 18 months.
The patient was able to live an ordinary life
thereafter.
Observation: In this case, the patient had spleenyang deficiency since infancy, which wasaggravated by the burden of primary school life
such that it might have even affected the kidney.
Shokenchuto does not have a strong effect ininvigorating the yang (warming), but it isexcellent as a spleen invigorating drug (prokineticagent) for children. By improving the digestive
function, it induced an improvement of othersymptoms and conditions. Shokenchuto is also
said to have the effect of invigorating the kidney,
and is used frequently in the field of pediatricKampo in Japan.
Reference:

Shokenchuto
Warms the body and mitigates excessive tension
in the digestive tract.
Improves digestive symptoms such as small
appetite, recurrent abdominal pain and softstool, and whole-body symptoms such as
secondary chilliness and lack of vitality.

Hochuekkito
Warms the body somewhat and improves thegeneral state of low tension.
Used in cases where the patient feels a strong
sense of general malaise, such that he/she tires
easily and tends to want to lie down, or feels aheaviness in the arms and legs.

Rikkunshito
Warms the body somewhat and improves thestate of low tension particularly in the digestive
tract.
Improves stagnant intestinal movement
symptoms such as poor appetite and feeling offullness, and the sense of heaviness, etc.

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

21

Volume 9, Number 2 | Summer 2014

Crude

drugcomponents

andefficacy

ofShokenchuto
・ Keishi (cinnamon): Warms the body, induces
light sweating
・Shakuyaku (peony): Relieves muscular tension,
improves microcirculation
・Taiso (jujube): Improves the digestive function,
promotes emotional stability
・Shoga (ginger): Warms the body, improves thedigestive function
・ Shakanzo (honey-fried licorice): Improves thedigestive function, relieves tension, provides
medicinal relief・Koui (malt sugar): Nutritional support, coughsuppressantShokenchuto thus warms the body, improves thedigestive function, relieves muscular tension, andpromotes emotional stability. For children, inparticular, it is used to warm the body, mitigate
excessive tension in the digestive tract, andimprove the digestive function. It is used in a wide
range of applications.

22The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)