Kampo medicine for the holistic approach to older adults with heart failure

• Published in: Journal of cardiology Vol. 80; no. 4; pp. 306 - 312
• Main Authors: Yaku, Hidenori, Kaneda, Kazuhisa, Kitamura, Jun, Kato, Takao, Kimura, Takeshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Frailty; Heart failure; Kampo medicine; Older adults; Quality of life; Heart failure; cardiovascular disease; Kampo medicine; aquaporin; Older adults; left ventricular ejection fraction; peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor γ coactivator-1; Quality of life; randomized controlled trial; tumor necrosis factor-alpha; poor health-related quality of life; Frailty; congestive heart failure; insulin-like growth factor; growth hormone secretagogue receptor; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• ISSN: 0914-5087; 1876-4738
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jjcc.2021.12.011

•Heart failure (HF) is a quintessential cardiovascular syndrome of aging.•HF adversely affects the physical and psychological problems of a patient's life in older adults.•The basic idea of Kampo is that a balance of physical and mental is essential for human health.•A holistic approach using Kampo can be helpful to improve quality of life and outcomes in older patients with HF.•Further evidence needs to be generated for the effects of Kampo medicine on elderly HF patients. Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality in older adults and represents a significant clinical and economic burden on the health care system. However, there are many challenges in assessing and managing HF in elderly patients, who often have coexisting multimorbidity, frailty, and malnutrition. Therefore, it is often difficult to solve these problems with Western medicine alone, and a holistic approach, including Kampo medicine, can be helpful. In particular, managing volume control and frailty by adding Kampo formulas may help improve health-related quality of life and substantially impact prognosis in HF. This review article summarizes the role of Kampo medicine for older patients with HF and frailty. [Display omitted]