PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION        CONSUMER TESTIMONIAL

Interviews with Practitioners Who Use Honso Products: What They Think

An Interview with Dr. Qun Li, L.Ac.

This is the first in a series of interviews with alternative medicine practitioners in the US who frequently use Honso Kampo products in their practices. Honso is a pharmaceutical company based in Japan and branched in Tempe Arizona, which produces and distributes pharmaceutical-grade Chinese herbal formulas or Kampo in Japan and the US.

Qun Li, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., Dipl.C.H., MD (China), Master’s degree in Acupuncture, graduated from Hubei College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Wuhan China in 1988 with five years in Chinese medicine and three years in graduate study of acupuncture. She was then instructor and attending physician at the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture in Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China for 5 years. Dr. Li has practiced acupuncture and Chinese medicine in Minnesota and Missouri for 7 years before moving to Arizona in 2000, where she has been engaged in teaching and clinical practice ever since. Dr. Li is nationally certified in acupuncture and Chinese herbology and licensed to practice acupuncture in Arizona.

Joseph Garner, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., Dipl.C.H., conducting this interview, trained at Colorado School of TCM in Denver and is a licensed acupuncturist working in Tempe, Arizona and a faculty member at Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture.

JG: During my last interview with Dan Wen, I spoke about some of the clinical successes you told me you’ve had with Honso’s products. Are there any other cases you can share?

QL: Yes. I am very excited about my clinical successes with Honso’s H24/Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan. I have two older ladies who were on anti-depressants like Prozac or Zoloft for more than 20 years. Giving them H24 consistently, I was able to wean them completely off anti-depressants. Xiao Yao Wan is of course used for disharmony of liver and spleen, which is the underlying pattern in many different presentations, and there is often heat with this due to stagnation, so Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan is then more appropriate. One female patient told me that every menstrual cycle after ovulation, she is too nervous to drive, and H24 helps her continue driving then. I use it often for mild cases of nervousness and anxiety. One female teacher has neck and shoulder pain each time she gets tense. The tension is due to liver qi stagnation, and her tongue tip is red, so H24 resolves her tension and thus her shoulder pain. Another female patient has breast tenderness and anger as well as lower abdominal pain beginning at mid-cycle, and H24 works very well for all this. One patient has severe chronic fatigue and chronic urinary tract infection (UTI). Such patients are usually very emotional. I give her H24 and H40/Zhu Ling Tang, and this greatly reduces the fatigue, worry and UTIs. I also give her raw herbs, but she finds it good to have the individually packed granules available when she feels nervous and has to confront a stressful occasion, such as a visit to the dentist. I want people to know that overall I think Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan is more effective for more people than Xiao Yao Wan.

JG: Excellent. What about your use of other formulas?

QL: H40/Zhu Ling Tang works exceedingly well for many cases of urinary track infections. For the patient mentioned above with severe chronic fatigue and a long history of urinary tract infections, I first tonified her yin long-term, and her bladder infections went away. She had an interesting case: she had burning pain in her liver, was cold in the morning and hot at night, and had tremors in her head and neck due to liver wind from the yin deficiency. I started her out with a small dose of raw herbs, and the burning liver pain, evening heat changeability and, of course, bladder infections, were all much better. One day she called up with an emergency UTI which wasn’t responding to drugs, and I gave her a double-dose of H40/Zhu Ling Tang three times a day. Her bladder infection cleared up in three days, and she was “so glad.” I like Zhu Ling Tang because it contains E Jiao, which enriches the yin to counter-balance the strong damp-draining herbs in the formula that can damage the yin. H40 is for patients who present with chronic bladder infections with a feeling of heaviness, sluggishness and lower jiao bloating due to water retention, with soggy pulses and with tongues having a thick white or slightly yellow coat in the rear, not for tongues with a lot of yellow in the coat.

JG: Since the formula is for damp cold bladder problems, why could it also treat very mild cases of damp heat, as would be indicated by a slightly yellow tongue coat?

QL: Because it contains Hua Shi, which can treat damp heat, but is the only herb in the formula that can.

JG: Oh yes, of course. Anyway, what other formulas do you use often?

QL: I treat many gynecological cases, and I have used H25/Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan very successfully for numerous cases of uterine cysts/fibroids. Sometimes perimenopausal patients present with fibroids and vaginal dryness due to blood deficiency stagnation, and the combination of H25/Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan and H71/Si Wu Tang works dramatically well. I also had a patient with a fibroid cyst six centimeters in diameter. Her doctor urged her to have surgery that she didn’t want, so I gave the patient H25 along with a double-dose of Er Chen Tang in pill form, since fibroids are usually due to phlegm and blood stagnation, and in six weeks her fibroids were less than four inches in diameter. Her doctor then agreed that surgery might be more aggressive than she needed.

JG: Wonderful. Congratulations on your success. Since you treat gynecology cases so much, do you mix together other kampo formulas for other common gynecological situations?

QL: I often combine H24/Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan and H25/Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan for liver qi stagnation, blood deficiency and blood stagnation presenting together, as with many cases of menstrual cramping pain and/or PMS. I have the patient begin taking H24 and H25 at ovulation and continue up to the beginning of the period. If necessary, I will continue the patient on H24 during the period, but blood moving formulas should not normally be given during periods, so I discontinue patients from H25 during that time. If the patient requires, I will combine H24 with some appropriate tonifying formula during the period.

JG: I see. Do you have anything else to say about your experience with Honso granules?

QL: I do have some comments. The word “kampo” means “Han formula.” Zhang Zhong Jing’s Han dynasty formulas from the Shang Han Lun are characterized by few ingredients, low dosages and elegant formula construction. They work efficiently, without overloading the body. I like Honso’s version of them firstly because their high quality and potency allow me to give my patients products we both can trust, and which allow me to make accurate prognoses. Also, Honso has done much clinical research, which allows me to better target the formulas for the appropriate situation.

JG: Quite a recommendation. That’s all the time we have for now. Thank you very much for the interesting interview, Dr. Li.

QL: You’re very welcome, Joseph.

The above contents are for the purpose of professional exchanging of information only. They are not necessarily representing Honso USA’s opinion. If you are a practitioner who has been using Honso products in your practice for some time and you would like to be interviewed for this format, please send email to info@honso.com.

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