n
the August 21, 1993 issue of the prestigious British medical publication
The Lancet, Catrien Ross, Tokyo-based correspondent and director
of a healing arts and resource center, described Kampo medicine's impressive
resurgence in popularity over the past 25 years among Japanese physicians
and their patients. Ross reported that 70% of the 200,000 physicians in
Japan regularly prescribe Kampo drugs to their patients, with particularly
high percentages among gynecologists (88%), urologists (83%) and cardiologists
(83%). Approximately 210 Kampo drugs are presently approved for reimbursement by Japan's national health insurance, Ross noted, and Kampo medicines, which constitute a $1.5 billion market, have enjoyed an annual growth rate of 15% over the past five years. The establishment last year of Japan's first chair of Kampo medicine at Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University was called by Ross "the latest recognition of Kampo's role in modern Japanese medicine."
The popularity of Kampo, according to Ross, stems from its unique approach to treating a wide range of conditions, particularly arteriosclerotic diseases, autoimmune disorders, allergic diseases, degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, bronchial asthma, chronic hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, and menopausal symptoms. Unlike western drugs, which are designed to "attack" the cause of a disease, Ross explained that Kampo medicines are prescribed in accordance with a special method of diagnosis based on careful observation and interpretation of signs and symptoms. Explained Ross, "Japanese doctors like Kampo's syner-gistic and multiple action, working with the patient to boost the body's inherent ability to promote health."
Acknowledging that further scientific clarification of the principles and pharmaceutical action of Kampo medicines is required before Kampo med-icine can be widely accepted by western medical practitioners, Ross nevertheless asserted that "many Japanese physicians believe that the moment is ripe for an integration of Western and Oriental medicine for a new type of medical approach for the future."
Ms. Ross wrote a longer article on Kampo under the same title in the Spring 1994 issue of Japan Scope magazine, published by Nomura Securities.