Abstract
During the past 10 years we have treated a total of 1, 132 patients with abnormal sensation in the throat with 11 active and 2 inactive oral medicines for two weeks or psychotherapy. The complete cure rate (CCR) was determined 1, 2 and 3 weeks after the start of treatment.
Three Kampo medicines (hange-koboku-to, saiko-ka-ryukotsu-borei-to and saiboku-to), which are supposed to be mainly effective for psychosomatic disorders, and sulpiride, an antidepressant and considered to be effective for other central nervous system disorders, gave the best results: their CCR's were 13-18% at 1 week, 14-24% at 2 and 18-32% at 3 weeks.
The CCR's for two (oxazolam and diazepam) of the three minor tranquilizers were high at 1 and 2 weeks (19-30%), but not at 3 weeks (13-14%). Symptoms recurred soon after the cessation of the therapy with these two medicines. The CCR of the other minor tranquilizer, alprazolam, was not high (8%) at 1 week, but it rose (13%) at 2 weeks and stayed at 13% at 3 weeks.
On the other hand, the administration of other medicines [dosulepin hydrochloride (pure anti-depressant), hormone complex, lysozyme chloride (anti-inflammatory agent) and tiaprofenic acid (anti-inflammatory agent)] could not produce any better CCR's (3-7%) at 1 week than the two kinds of inactive medicines (3-4%) or psychotherapy without any drugs. At 2 and 3 weeks the CCR's for the former 4 medicines (7-16%) were slightly, but not significantly, higher than those (4-16%) for the inactive medicines or psychological treatment.
