PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION        CONSUMER TESTIMONIAL

Interviews with Practitioners Who Use Honso Kampo Products: What They Think

An Interview with Diane Iuliano, L.Ac.

This is the third 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 Phoenix Arizona, which produces and distributes pharmaceutical-grade Chinese herbal formulas or Kampo in Japan and the US.

Diane Iuliano, L.Ac., graduated from Boston College with a B.F.A. in 1979. She received her Diploma of Acupuncture from New England School of Acupuncture in 1992, the same year she became licensed to practice in Massachusetts, and her Master of Acupuncture in 1997. She has been an instructor and clinical supervisor at NESA since 1993 and since 1997 has been co-chair of the Japanese Acupuncture Department. In addition to private practice since 1992, she has been a staff acupuncturist at Mt. Auburn Hospital since 1998 and was a research associate at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2001 and 2002. She has worked for Council to Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine since 1993 and in the past for Boston Regional Medical Center and Cambridge Head and Neck Surgery.

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 Phoenix, Arizona and a faculty member at Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture.

JG: How long have you been practicing Kampo herbal medicine? And how long have you been involved with Honso’s Kampo products?

DI: I’ve been practicing Kampo herbal medicine since I graduated in 1992. I don’t remember exactly when it was I got involved with Honso, but it was before they were distributing in the United States, so I’ve been with them since the ground floor in this country. Before I used Honso’s granules, I used granular products from other companies.

JG: Why did you switch to Honso?

DI: I especially like the research behind and attached to the Honso products and Japanese herbal products in general. Kampo research is just easier to relate to and explain to Westerners. I also like the quality control to be sure there are no contaminants, especially heavy metals.

Most of my patients are working people, so getting compliance with raw herbs has always been a problem for me. With the granular products, specifically the individually dosage-packed ones, I don’t have to worry about that. Compliance is much better. The granules are easy to use and easy to carry around. Oh, and I want people to know that Honso’s website, HonsoUSA.com, is very user friendly. It contains a lot of information about interactions with medications as well as precautions.

JG: Well, you sound like quite a fan. I understand you spend much of your practice treating women’s health problems. Is that correct 

DI: Yes. Part of my practice is at Mount Auburn Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital, where I share patients with doctors in the Center for Women. I treat a lot of cases with irregular menstruation and perimenopausal complaints.

JG: I see. Since you practice Kampo and Japanese-style traditional medicine, would you please explain how you go about this, for the benefit of those not familiar with this style of treatment?

DI: Of course. Kampo herbal medicine is based on reading the pulse and the hara─the abdomen, which may include the whole torso. The focus is on normalizing irregularities in the pulse and hara, which takes care of symptoms and the underlying cause of disease.

JG: Thank you. Can you enlighten us as to which formulas you find most useful in treating the common women’s problems you spoke of?

DI: Yes. First of all, I use H23/Dang Gui and Peony often, for cases presenting with irregular menstruation of all sorts, as well as infertility. In these cases I tend to find tension below the navel in the rectus abdominis muscle along with flaccidity above the navel. And the pulse tends to be weak and deep. I usually count on prescribing H23/Dang Gui and Peony twice a day prior to meals for two or three period cycles. Normally within that timeframe the hara gets regulated, so there is less pressure pain, more even texture and temperature, and the pulse tends to come up to the middle depth and normal strength. And usually the woman’s periods are more normal after this occurs.

JG: Excellent. Would you talk about another Honso formula you commonly use in your practice?

DI: Certainly. When the case presents more as one related to blood stasis, I tend to use H25/Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan. In my opinion and experience, blood stasis is often the culprit in women’s health problems, particularly those where I find congealed lumps in the lower abdomen and spasm on the left side of the abdomen. The pulse in such cases will normally be deep and slow. I prescribe H25/Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan three times a day before meals. Usually within one month the lumps are significantly softer and the patients’ chief complaints much improved. Such cases generally have a strong emotional content to them, emotions locked up in the tissues.

JG: I see. One more formula for our readers?

DI: OK. When a patient complains of any type of disturbed sleep pattern, whether difficulty getting to sleep or difficulty staying asleep or what have you, especially with palpitations and night sweats, there tends to be pressure pain and distension subcostally, with pulsations above the navel. Usually within two weeks of patients taking H12/Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang, I can no longer detect pulsations above the navel. With infertility and perimenopausal conditions there is often a very strong and disturbing emotional component. H12/Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang helps with the irritability and mania which can accompany these conditions.

JG: Oh yes, I find H12/Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang so useful in so many conditions, for both males and females, that personally I think it should be introduced into the water supply in this country. Of course I’m teasing but I do find it a remarkably useful formula in the Honso version.

DI: I agree. I like it that it contains a standardized version of Chai Hu, with a predictable amount of saikosaponins. As I understand it, there are four or five different regions in China where Chai Hu is grown for medicinal use, and different regions will have different enzymes and other substances in the soil and atmosphere, which will lead to differences in the effect of the herb. Standardization lets me know my patients’ livers are getting a constant delivery of the most active ingredient in Chai Hu each time. I find H12/Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang good for almost any stage of the cycle. I have taken it myself for palpitations.

JG: Thank you, Ms. Iuliano, for your very interesting comments. To me, it’s good to have someone who uses the Kampo formulas in the way they are traditionally used in Japan tell us about her experience in America. A different take on things, if you will.

DI: Quite so. You’re very welcome. I enjoy talking about Kampo.

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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