HONSO USA HERBAL

Japanese herbal medicine, known as Kampo, is part of the East Asian Chinese medicine tradition. The word “Kampo” means “Han method,” a reference to Chinese culture of the Han era (206BC - 220AD). Kampo is fundamentally a clinical system based on the classical medical literature dating back to the Han era. Kampo is an older tradition preserved in Japan and based upon classical “TCM” (Traditional Chinese Medicine). In Japan, Kampo has been in almost continuous use for centuries as a system of medicine with the exception of the Meiji era (1866 - 1912) when traditional medicine was banned. It was during the Meiji era, however, when pharmacological research was first used to validate the use of the herb mao (Chinese ma huang; L. Ephedra sinica). In 1885 Dr. Nagayoshi Nagai isolated the alkaloid ephedrine from this herb, frequently used in formulas for bronchial asthma and arthritis. The pharmacological action of ephedrine was explained by Dr. Kinnosuke Miura in a German medical journal and ephedrine subsequently became a mainstream pharmaceutical for the treatment of bronchial asthma in Europe and North America as well.