Kampo medicine can improve quality of life and prolong hemodialysis implementation in patients with advanced-stage chronic kidney disease

Cases: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases in an aging society and eventually leads to hemodialysis (HD). We present two cases of advanced CKD, successfully supported with Kampo medicine (KM), and resulting in delayed initiation of HD. To begin, a 58-year-old man with advanced CKD visited the Kampo clinic. His physical findings were general edema and oliguria. Kampo diagnosis showed spleen^[™^] and kidney^[™^] deficiencies with fluid^[™^] retention and blood^[™^] stasis (the superscript suffix ^[TM] indicates words (general and medical terms) that are used as Kampo medical terms). Second, a 70-year-old woman with advanced CKD had to transfer to the evacuation center because of the Great East Japan earthquake. Two weeks later, her body weight increased with edema and oliguria. Emergency HD was indicated; however, the area was broken down by the earthquake. Outcome: As an alternative treatment, the first patient was administered KM to tonify the spleen^[™^] and kidney^[™^] functions with smoothing fluid^[™^] and blood^[™^]. As a result, his serum creatinine (sCr) level decreased from 5.99 to 2.23 mg/dL after five months of administration. Finally, implementation of regular HD was initiated which was prolonged for three years. Similar to the first case, the second patient was prescribed KM; her sCr level decreased from 9.2 to 4.5 mg/dL after a month of administration. Finally, implementation of regular HD was initiated which was prolonged for two years. Conclusion: Regular HD implementation was prolonged in advanced CKD patients using KM; thus, it is a supportive therapy for advanced CKD patients.