[Japanese nonprescription drugs (1) "Pediatric Formulas" for five kinds of "Gan"]

The genealogy of children's sedatives such as Kio-gan and Kyumei-gan, which remain in use even today for pediatric conditions including convulsions and nocturnal crying, was traced and the significance of these formulas was investigated. In the Edo Era, pediatric formulas for five kinds of gan (infantile malnutrition) combined four prescriptions to treat individual symptoms of "re (heat) gan," "leng (cool) gan," "hui (helminth parasite) gan," and "ji (spinal) gan" into one prescription. In contrast, during and after the Meiji Era, pediatric formulas for these five kinds of gan have used only one prescription to treat "re (heat) gan". Moreover, these formulas have tended to use a greater proportion of components that are used to treat "re gan". From this information, it readily became apparent that : 1) Edo Era pediatric formulas for the five kinds of gan were intended to improve the physical condition of the children prone to the illness; and, 2) modern (Meiji Era) prescriptions were intended to alleviate the acute symptoms of gan.