Abstract
The Japanese herbal medicine rikkunshito has been reported to increase secretion of ghrelin, which is a hormone related to appetite, and to promote gastric emptying and improve accommodative relaxation of the stomach, effects that are useful in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). Clinical trials that compared rikkunshito with placebo for FD have demonstrated improvement of epigastric symptoms, psychological symptoms, and quality of life in FD patients treated with this herbal medicine. Hange-koboku-to has also been reported to promote gastric emptying in FD, and Hangeshashinto, Saiko-keishi-to, Anchu-san, and Ninjin-to are used as well, although high-quality clinical evidence is lacking. While it is generally considered that Chinese herbal medicines have few side effects, care is necessary because liver dysfunction, pseudo-aldosteronism, and myopathy may rarely occur.
Because various factors are involved in the etiology of FD, Chinese herbal medicines that combine several crude drugs with multiple ingredients are thought to be effective. Thus, Chinese herbal medicines are effective therapeutic agents for FD and should be used to treat it.
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Shimoyama, Y., Hosaka, H., Kuribayashi, S., Kawamura, O., Kusano, M. (2018). Herbal Medicine. In: Tominaga, K., Kusunoki, H. (eds) Functional Dyspepsia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1074-4_13
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