Donating your own blood prior to big surgery like this is fairly common and is called autologous blood donation.  The idea is that if you donate your own blood and then recover a bit, then have the surgery, your body has enough time to build up your hemoglobin and oxygen carrying red blood cells.  That way in the event you need blood, you can get your own blood back.  This study looked at patients undergoing hip surgery who donated autologous blood. In all cases, the recovery of hemoglobin levels was faster in those who were taking Juzentaihoto, and the results were statistically significant.  This means, the effect was not likely due to chance alone.    If it works here, it suggests that this herbal will increase hemoglobin levels in any situation where anemia may be causing fatigue.

Juzentaihoto (TJ-48), a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, influences hemoglobin recovery during preoperative autologous blood donation and after hip surgery.

Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2009 Dec;47(12):716-21

Authors: Kishida Y, Nishii T, Inoue T, Nishida S, Arimitsu J, Yoshikawa H, Sugano N

OBJECTIVE: Preoperative autologous blood donation is a widely used alternative to allogenic transfusion in hip surgery. However, it has been reported that autologous blood donation may induce preoperative anemia. Juzentaihoto (TJ-48) (Tsumura Co., Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese herbal medicine that has been used to alleviate anemia. We investigated the effect of TJ-48 on anemia in the perioperative period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 18 hips of 18 female patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty or rotational acetabular osteotomy (RAO) were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of 9 hips of 9 patients who were treated with TJ-48 at a dose of 7.5 g per day from 21 days before surgery to the day before surgery. Group B consisted of 9 hips of 9 patients who did not take TJ-48. Preoperative autologous blood donation was performed 21, 14 and 7 days before surgery. All patients deposited 400 ml each time for a total of 1,200 ml. Hemoglobin level was recorded on preoperative Days 21, 14 and 7 and postoperative Days 1, 4, 7 and 14. RESULTS: During the preoperative period, repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant difference between the two groups in hemoglobin level (p = 0.04). Despite the lack of TJ-48 after surgery, the rate of hemoglobin decline in Group A was less than in Group B at all examination times. No patients with TJ-48 experienced side effects, including gastrointestinal symptoms and unusual laboratory data. CONCLUSION: TJ-48 is useful for treating anemia during preoperative autologous donation.

PMID: 19954709 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Tagged as: alternative cures, anemia, chinese herbs, herbs for anemia, Juzentaihoto (TJ-48), natural cures