The effect of Kampo medicine in suppressing fluctuations of the subjective sense of balance in a patient with Meniere's disease

Abstract

　Object: To show the effect of Kampo medicine in suppressing fluctuations of the subjective sense of balance in a patient with Meniere's disease.

　Material & Methods: The patient was a 75-year-old man with chronic Meniere's disease. He had been diagnosed as having Meniere's disease nine years earlier, and continued to have vertigo attacks after two surgeries. We instructed the patient to maintain a vertigo diary with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for two years. During one of those two years, we treated him with the Kampo medicine, Ryokeijyutukantou.

　Result: Statistical analysis of the VAS values recorded in the vertigo diary showed that the Kampo medicine was effective at suppressing fluctuations of the patient's subjective sense of balance. By long-term analysis, there is no effect of the weather and pressure to Meniere's disease.

　Discussion: Our findings suggested that the Kampo medicine was effective for suppressing fluctuations of the subjective sense of equilibrium in our patient with Meniere's disease.