Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Keishikakobokukyoninto is a Japanese Kampo herbal formula. It is used mainly for a cough that lingers after a cold. It is also used for mild wheeze in people who tire easily, sweat readily and feel the cold.
It is one of the 148 Kampo formulas on Japan's approved list. That list is part of the MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) health insurance scheme.
The recipe is the older formula Keishito with two herbs added. They are magnolia bark (koboku) and apricot kernel (kyonin).
Kampo doctors pick it for a dry or loose cough that drags on for weeks. They also pick it for asthma-type breathing in a slight, easily chilled person.
Here is the honest verdict. The formula has a long record in Kampo practice. But modern human trial evidence for it is all but absent.
A long history of use is not proof that something works. That caution applies to everything on this page. It is not repeated in each section below.
Nobody has shown how this formula works in the body. What follows is traditional theory, not a tested mechanism (a proven way of working).
In Kampo terms, the cinnamon-twig base is said to settle a body whose surface defences are weak and leaking sweat. Magnolia bark is said to loosen a tight chest. Apricot kernel is said to send the breath downward and quiet the cough.
In modern terms, a few parts look plausible. Cinnamon twig and magnolia bark give aromatic oils. Apricot kernel gives amygdalin, which has a history of use for cough.
These parts have been studied in the lab. They have not been studied in people taking this formula.
In Japan it is most often a dried extract granule or a fine powder. A licensed maker prepares it. A doctor or pharmacist then dispenses it.
A standard pack is usually 2.5 g of granules per dose.
It is also made the old way, as a decoction. The raw herbs are simmered in water and the liquid is drunk. Some suppliers sell tablets or capsules of the same extract.
Quality matters here. The liquorice and apricot kernel content decide the safety margin. Buy only from a supplier that states the herb amounts per dose.
The recipe comes from the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage). This Chinese medical text was put together around the third century CE. It is credited to Zhang Zhongjing.
In that text it appears as Keishito with two herbs added. The extra herbs are magnolia bark and apricot kernel, for a patient who also has a cough.
Japanese Kampo doctors took up the Shanghan Lun formulas from about the sixteenth century on. They built their own prescribing style around body type and build.
This formula became a standard choice for the thin, easily chilled patient with a nagging cough. It is still in routine use in Japan today under the national health insurance list.
See a doctor straight away if your face, hands or ankles swell, if you gain weight quickly over a few days, if your legs feel weak or cramp badly, or if you notice a fast, slow or irregular heartbeat. These can be signs that your potassium has dropped too low.
Get urgent help if you become short of breath at rest, your lips or fingertips look blue, you cough up blood, or you feel faint.
See a doctor if a cough lasts more than three weeks, if you have a fever that will not settle, if you are losing weight without trying, or if your blood pressure readings start climbing. Also stop and get advice if a rash spreads or you feel unwell in any new way after starting it.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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