Tetsuhiro Yoshino

Licorice, the dried root or stolon of <i>Glycyrrhiza glabra</i> or <i>G. ularensis</i>, is commonly used worldwide as a food sweetener or crude drug. Its major ingredient is glycyrrhizin. Hypokalemia or pseudoaldosteronism (PsA) is one of the most frequent side effects of licorice intake. Glycyrrhizin metabolites inhibit type 2 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11βHSD2), which decomposes cortisol into inactive cortisone in the distal nephron, thereby inducing mineralocorticoid receptor activity.

A cold sensation (hie) is common in Japanese women and is an important treatment target in Kampo medicine. Physicians diagnose patients as having hiesho (cold disorder) when hie disturbs their daily activity. However, differences between hie and hiesho in men and women are not well described. Hie can be of three types depending on body part where patients feel hie. We aimed to clarify the characteristics of patients with hie and hiesho by analyzing data from new patients seen at the Kampo Clinic

Although we could not reach a definitive conclusion because of the small sample sizes and high risk of bias in the analysed studies, maoto may lower the duration of fever when it is used alone or in combination with NAIs and may be a well-tolerated treatment. More RCTs are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of maoto.

An 89-year-old man with diabetes treated with metformin 500 mg/day and glimepiride 4 mg/day was hospitalized because of hypoglycemic right hemiparesis and dysarthria (casual glucose value 1.8 mmol/L), which resolved quickly following administration of 40 mL of 40% dextrose. Hemiparesis is a rare symptom (4.2%) of hypoglycemia. There are about 200 case reports of hypoglycemic hemiparesis. The average glucose level at which hemiparesis developed was 1.8 mmol/L. Right-sided hemiparesis predominated

An analysis of case reports of pseudoaldosteronism with rhabdomyolysis revealed that in Japan, most cases occurred in elderly women with essential hypertension and were caused by drugs such as herbal medicines. In contrast, in other countries, many cases involved younger men, and the dominant causes were foods containing licorice. The use of herbal medicines is increasing all over the world, and when a patient with risk factors is prescribed an herbal medicine containing licorice, careful follow

In Kampo medicine, two different formulas are effective for treating dysmenorrhea-tokishakuyakusan and keishibukuryogan; however, the criteria by which specialists select the appropriate formula for each patient are not clear. We compared patients treated with tokishakuyakusan and those with keishibukuryogan and proposed a predictive model. The study included 168 primary and secondary dysmenorrhea patients who visited the Kampo Clinic at Keio University Hospital. We collected clinical data from

In this self-controlled case series, we aimed to investigate the variation in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after taking astragalus-containing preparations in patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) by retrospectively reviewing their charts in our clinic. We set the inclusion criteria as first-visit patients aged 20 years or older presenting to our clinic between 1 October 2014, and 31 June 2019, and who were prescribed astragalus-containing herbal preparations

<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> This is a narrative review of the integration of traditional medicine with conventional biomedicine in present day Japan, whose aging population is considered one of the largest globally. <b><i>Design:</i></b> It is focused on the aging population because this age group most avails of healthcare. We also tried to describe the unique Japanese medical situations, clinical outcome of Japanese traditional medicine (Kampo medicine) which may include acupuncture, and educatio

A 56-year-old woman with Graves' disease presented with the complaints of diarrhea and palpitations. Physical examination and laboratory data revealed hypothermia and signs of mild hyperthyroidism, heart failure, hepatic dysfunction with jaundice, hypoglycemia, and lactic acidosis. The patient was diagnosed as having developed the complication of thyroid storm in the absence of marked elevation of the thyroid hormone levels, because of the potential hepatic and cardiac dysfunctions caused by hea

These results suggest that our decision support system for non-specialist physicians works well in selecting appropriate Kampo formulas from among two or three candidates. Additional studies are required to integrate the present statistical analysis in clinical practice.

ABSTRACT Aim Pseudoaldosteronism is a known side‐effect of licorice, and J apanese traditional K ampo medicine is one of the major areas of use of licorice in J apan. Multidrug resistance protein 2 ( Mrp 2) dysfunction is important for pseudoaldosteronism. Congenital deficiency of Mrp2 causes constitutional jaundice with elevated direct bilirubin. Hence, elevated direct bilirubin can be a biomarker of Mrp2 dysfunction. The relationship between pseudoaldosteronism and elevated direct bilirubin, h

We constructed a better qi stagnation prediction model than the previously established ones. Our results can be utilized to reach an international agreement on qi stagnation pattern diagnosis in traditional East Asian medicine.

Abstract Five young researchers presented their studies in the field of traditional Japanese herbal medicine (Wakan‐yaku) at the second annual young researcher forum entitled “Growing Research Buds by Young Investigators,” held during the annual meeting of the Japan Society of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Traditional Medicine 2021. Mr. Yoneda presented exploratory research on new pharmaceutical seed compounds from garlic ( Allium sativum ). Dr. Yang investigated whether diosgenin prom

Invasive aspergillosis is a life-threatening opportunistic infection that occurs most often in immunocompromised patients, especially those with either hematological malignancies treated with chemotherapy or in organ transplant recipients. Here, we report 2 cases of disseminated invasive aspergillosis with myocarditis proven pathologically by autopsy. These 2 cases occurred in immunocompromised patients: the first patient received chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-relat