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eCAM Advance Access published online on March 30, 2009
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nep026
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© 2009 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A Chinese Herbal Medicine, Tokishakuyakusan, Reduces the Worsening of Impairments and Independence After Stroke: A 1-year Randomized, Controlled Trial

Hirozo Goto1, Nobuhiko Satoh2, Yoshinori Hayashi3, Hiroaki Hikiami1, Yutaka Nagata1, Ryosuke Obi1 and Yutaka Shimada1

1Department of Japanese Oriental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2Tonami General Hospital and 3Yoshimi Hospital, Toyama, Japan

In post-stroke patients, the recurrence of stroke and progression of impairments lead to a bedridden state and dementia. As for their treatments, only anti-hypertension and anti-coagulation therapies to prevent the recurrence of stroke are available. In Asia, post-stroke patients with impairments are often treated with herbal medicine. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of tokishakuyakusan (TS) in improving the impairment and independence in post-stroke patients. Thirty-one post-stroke patients (mean age = 81.4 years) were recruited and enrolled. Participants were randomly assigned to the TS group (n=16) or non-treatment (control) group (n=15) and treated for 12 months. Impairments were assessed using the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS). Independence was evaluated using the functional independence measure (FIM). For each outcome measure, mean change was calculated every 3 months. The results were that impairments according to SIAS did not significantly change in the TS group. In contrast, SIAS significantly worsened in the control group. There was a significant difference between the two groups. In each term of SIAS, affected lower extremity scores, abdominal muscle strength, function of visuospatial perception, etc. in the TS group were better than those in the control group. Independence according to FIM did not change significantly in the TS group. In contrast, FIM significantly worsened in the control group. There was also a significant difference between the two groups. In conclusion, TS was considered to suppress the impairments of lower limbs and to exert a favorable effect on cerebral function for post-stroke patients.

Keywords: post-stroke – impairments – independence – RCT

For reprints and all correspondence: Hirozo Goto, MD, PhD, Department of Japanese Oriental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan. Tel: +81-76-434-7393; Fax: +81-76-434-0366; E-mail: hiro510{at}med.u-toyama.ac.jp

Received August 9, 2008; accepted March 3, 2009


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