Collaboration of Japanese Kampo Medicine and Modern Biomedicine

摘要

Worldwide, health care systems are increasingly highlighting the importance of traditional medicines. The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to introduce traditional medicine into the international classification of diseases (ICD) for the first time since it started in 1900. Kampo medicine is a traditional Asian medical system that is unique in many ways. Kampo was transferred from the ancient Han Chinese dynasty and uniquely developed in Japan, especially during the Edo period (1603-1867). The theoretical understanding and the use of the abdominal examination "Fukushin" to assess the patient's constitutional state are particular to Kampo. After the Meiji restoration in 1867, Japans new government accepted only Western medicine from Europe and founded one medical licensure system. The result was suppression of acquired wisdom and insights with marginal-ization of practitioners until 1976. At that time, the Japanese Medical Association promoted its coverage by Japans National Health Insurance program by physicians who were trained in Western medicine. And now, all of Japans 80 medical schools teach Kampo medicine. As a result, roughly 90% of physicians use Kampo medicine in their daily practice. This is a very unique model of integration of traditional medicine and modern biomedicine. To better understand the promise of this integration, this special issue features Kampo medicine in the context of modern biomedicine.