Recent Clinical Applications of Kampo Medicine in Amenorrhea

1.1 Japanese herbal (Kampo) medicine in Japan Japanese Herbal (Kampo) Medicine, which is covered by national health insurance in Japan, is often prescribed in the primary care field, and is also applied as an alternative remedy for several gynecological diseases such as menstrual disorders, and menopausal symptoms. Since ancient times, a wide variety of Kampo formulae have been used traditionally and found to be clinically effective in gynecological diseases. These formulae usually contain components from several medicinal plants that are thought to exert estrogenic effects contributing to the effective treatment of menstrual disorders (1 – 6). The clinical use of traditional herbal medicines in menopausal women has previously been reported (7).