2022 Volume 73 Issue 2 Pages 117-125
The Japan Society for Oriental Medicine (JSOM) has made various efforts against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to build evidence. JSOM has launched an academic society-led clinical research project on COVID-19 based on the concept and characteristics of Kampo medicine, including (1) prevention of disease by activating the immune system to regulate body conditions (pre-symptomatic stage of illness), (2) symptom alleviation in the mild and moderate stage and prevention of aggravation (acute to subacute stage of illness), and (3) early recovery and improvement of prolonged symptoms (late stage of illness). Since the declaration of the pandemic, the special working group has conducted the following activities : enlightening academic members, lobbying other academic societies, preparing research protocols, establishing research groups, conducting ethical reviews, responding to the research disclosure system, preparing protocol papers and review articles as the basis for the research, reporting research progress, soliciting case reports, warning against Chinese medicine use, requesting for research support funding, and revising the JSOM website. We also discuss the interpretation of COVID-19 from the perspective of Kampo medicine and the direction of the selection of Kampo formulas in this report.
