PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION        CONSUMER TESTIMONIAL

Interviews with Practitioners Who Use Honso Products: What They Think

An Interview with Gary Klepper, ND, DC.

This is one of 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.

Gary Klepper, ND, DC, studied at Rock Valley College in Illinois until 1975, received a B.S. in Human Biology, National College of Chiropractic in 1976, received his D.C. from the same school, Cum Laude, in 1978, and his N.D. from the American Naturopathic Medical Certification and Accreditation Board in 2001. He is licensed in Colorado. He practiced as an associate with Dr. George Goodheart in Detroit from 1979 to 1982, was in private practice in Boulder, Colorado from 1982 to 1993, and has been in partnership with Dr. Rain Klepper ever since. He also has vast experience in teaching and publishing on medical topics.

Joseph Garner, L.Ac, Dipl.Ac, Dipl.CH, conducting this interview, trained at Colorado School of TCM in Denver and is a licensed acupuncturist presently living in Washington State, on hiatus from clinical practice while working on a book.

JG: I often learn much from these interviews, so I look forward to doing them. How do you use Honso’s Kampo products?

GK: My work combines naturopathic nutritional medicine with cranial osteopathy with German biomedicine with Chinese medicine. I’ve used Chinese herbs for 25 years. Honso’s granular teas work especially well with the really sick—chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chemotherapy—the bulk of my patients. In my practice, many patients have very weak stomach qi; they need lots of supplementation. But the same nutritional products which help treat chemotherapy side effects or systemic inflammation, such as fish oil, are hard on digestive qi. I turned to Honso primarily to treat weak stomach qi. Honso products I rely on rebuild stomach qi particularly well when used with aggressive nutritional regimens. I often combine omega-3 fatty acid products with H14/Pinellia Formula to Drain the Epigastrium. I also use H05/Calm the Middle Formula, H79/Calm the Stomach Formula or H41/Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Formula. Mostly I use H14/ Pinellia Formula to Drain the Epigastrium. I have good success treating side effects of chemotherapy, an extremely complex issue, with treatment depending on many factors, including the particular chemotherapy a patient is on, and the patient’s constitution. And too, H48/All Inclusive Great Tonifying Formula enhances outcomes and counteracts chemotherapy side effects well.

JG: What German biomedicines do you use, and how do you integrate them with the Honso products?

GK: I use German biomedicines in treating the connective tissue matrix, following the homotoxicology model. The aim is to balance releasing toxins with rekindling vital energy. I use many different German products. There are two types: 1) spagyrics, which are complex homeopathics whose physiological and energetic healing influences are amplified so as to upregulate the organs and restore function to the extracellular matrix. 2) The other type is immunobiologicals, also known as immunometabolics, which come from specific fungi and bacteria. These modulate the immune system and the metabolism. All these are functional medicines. My practice model is a three-legged stool: 1) improve the function of the extracellular matrix with biomedicines, 2) restore metabolic health with nutritional supplementation, and 3) restore the body’s qi with herbs. Honso’s granulars combine extremely well with the spagyrics. I have used many other companies’ herbal products, and in the past I used to make patients separate taking the biomedicines and the herbs by an hour or two so as not to interfere with one another. Now patients can take the two together, as they are energetically compatible. In fact, I have patients place the biomedicine drops directly into the herb teas, because there’s such an excellent synergy.

I want to mention here what I consider a sleeper product of Honso’s for weakened qi presenting with toxic matrix and latent microbial infections: H06/Ten Ingredient Detoxifying Formula. Even though a patient has weak qi, I can sometimes use this formula to good effect. I may also alternate H06/Ten Ingredient Detoxifying Formula with H07/Rehmannia Eight Formula or H41/Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Formula. Oncologists are often pleased at the lack of side effects in shared patients. Our job is to make oncologists look really good. What we do is not a substitute for chemotherapy, but enhances outcomes significantly. With proper treatment there is a relative lack of gastrointestinal problems, neuropathies particular to various cancers, and bone marrow suppression.

JG: How do you go about treating chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia?

GK: Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, which of course often appear together, usually reflect runaway systemic inflammation. Nutritional supplements such as omega-3 fatty acids and magnesium are called for. Magnesium deficiency means magnesium supplementation at levels which can easily exceed stomach tolerance in these patients. For this I use herbs, commonly H79/Calm the Stomach or H05/Calm the Middle, for digestive systems which would otherwise be bogged down due to heavy mineral supplementation. Also H41/ Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Formula and H48/ All Inclusive Great Tonifying Formula help improve absorption, or maybe H43/Six Gentlemen Formula. Using these formulas allows me to rapidly cut down the mega-dosage required at first when treating such cases, balancing patient need with patient intolerance. When a person has a very toxic matrix, their vital heat will also be low. When the matrix is toxic, the patient will be very deficient in internal heat, so relying on supplementing herbal formulas often works well in treating toxicity, as opposed to using detoxifying formulas.

JG: Wonderful. Do you ever see any other types of patients?

GK: I sometimes see elite athletes with soreness and/or chronic tendonitis. I tell them to take H52/Coix Formula before workouts to avoid these problems, which works well. I must inform them, however, that using this formula will cause them to test positive for ephedrine due to its ma huang content.

JG: Ooh, we mustn’t forget that. I have heard Honso is not able to import any ma huang containing products since the FDA ban.

GK: It is a pretty bad news for all of us. I also occasionally see acute injuries, for which I use H68/Peony and Licorice Formula with good response. I don’t see this often, but I live in a farming area here in southern Colorado, so things happen.

JG: Well, Dr. Klepper, it has been enjoyable and illuminating speaking with you. Thank you very much for your time.

The above contents are only for the purpose of professional exchange of information. They do not necessarily represent Honso USA’s opinions. 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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