The First International Symposium on "Pain and Kampo (Japanese Herbal
Medicine)" took place in Tokyo in October, 1992. More than 700
registrants participated, with 12 registrants from seven overseas
countries. This book contains summaries of the presentations at this
meeting and is published in order to provide up-to-date information to a
much wider audience. In China, traditional herbal medicine has been used
for more than 3000 years while in Japan, its use has been documented for
more than 1000 years, albeit with some changes to the original Chinese
formulations. Recently there has been a revival of interest in herbal
medicines for several reasons. There is a rapid growth in the number of
senior citizens who frequently require the attention of modern medicine.
In particular, there has been an increase in the number of patients who
suffer from chronic diseases which are difficult to treat, e.g.,
arteriosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, chronic pain syndromes, etc. It
has become evident that traditional Oriental herbal medicines could
playa role in the management of these and other conditions.