Five Herb Kampo Remedy

Interferons: the Key to Long Lasting Health

Perhaps you are aware of the saying: "Immortality cannot be achieved through hard work, but a long, healthy life can." They are the words of a Chinese sage who lived around the third century. His words mean that while the undying nature of a god or a powerful wizard is beyond our means, we can make efforts to live longer through things like healthy living.

While our genes were previously believed to be the most important factor in determining our life spans, these days they are not considered to be so important. It is now clear that our living environments and normal diets have a huge impact on how long we live. In fact, how careful we are about our daily lifestyle can create a difference between how old we actually are and how old our bodies feel, creating up to a four year differential at the age of 25, and up to a 15 years at the age of 55.

When I was enrolled at the Tokyo University Institute for Infectious Disease Research (now the Tokyo University Institute of Medical Science) in 1954, I was the first to discover "virus inhibitors (interferons)." Interferons are proteins with antiviral, antitumor, and immunity regulating abilities. These days in medicine, interferons are administered via shots, but they can have problematic side effects.

In modern medicine, the dominant method for dealing with illnesses is to directly combat the external threat to the body and cure the illness. Thanks to purification and isolation of excellent functional substances, we have had success in treating even acute illnesses. Illnesses which are still at large today are usually caused by a variety of factors, and progress in a subacute or chronic fashion. Remedies which can serve multiple purposes at once are needed to treat these kinds of illnesses. Therefore, the multi-functionality of plant-based remedies is well suited for modern medicine.

"Interferon inducers" exist in the natural word and stimulate interferon production in humans and animals as needed by the body. What kinds of plants can increase interferon levels in our bodies? I have spent years and years investigating the functionality of hundreds of different plant species, one by one, including kampo remedies.

In order to figure out which types of plants can readily increase production of interferon, I determined an optimal extraction method which varies for each type of kampo based on where it is grown, extraction time, water temperature, water pressure, etc. In doing this, I have succeeded in creating the best possible kampo remedies to serve as interferon inducers.

I have selected zedoary, pumpkin seeds, corn pistils, cassia, and adlay as the plants which can most efficiently increase interferon levels, and combined them into one kampo remedy powder. It is called by names such as Gokansei powder, and is often used in patients with viral cases of Hepatitis B and C and shingles.

Kampo Remedies Activate Macrophages.

Macrophages are immune cells that serve an indispensable role in maintaining the proper function of our immune systems. They also produce interferons. The five-herb kampo remedy has been shown to increase the activity of macrophages.

For example, our livers contain many Kupffer cells, a type of macrophage. Kupffer cells assist with the detoxification and waste-processing functions of the liver as well as help it deal with viruses and bacteria. Using interferons, they solicit the help of natural killer (NK) cells to attack incoming viruses.

Hepatitis B and C patients who take interferon inducers experience increased levels of ALT (GPT) and AST (GOT) liver function. Increased interferon levels allow liver cells to defend themselves more effectively. The same logic applies for patients who have experienced relief from shingles and cold sores, maladies which are also caused by lowered immunity.

However, as I mentioned at the outset of this article, good health habits must be kept up for a long time. If interferon inducers become a means to a long, healthy life, then I feel I will have truly done valuable work as a researcher.