Two of the components of Seroigan: geranium (upper panel) and phellodendron bark (lower panel). Photos courtesy of Taiko/Tenshin Essentials.

In 1902, Japanese generals were preparing to confront the Czarist armies of Russia on battlefields in northeast China. It was the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, in which the two powers would battle in 1904 for control of Manchuria’s vast natural resources.

Japanese leaders knew as they planned their tactics that victory depended not only on superior strategy, but also on attention to even the most mundane practicalities of warfare. None was more vital than soldiers’ health. After all, even advanced training, superior weaponry, and an elegant battle plan would amount to little if the soldiers were immobilized in the trenches and on the battlefield diarrhea.

Looking for a reliable way to quell diarrhea in infantrymen, they seized upon a remedy that had come to Japan just 10 years before. It was wood creosote, a byproduct of burned beech and oak woods that people had begun to use in liquid form. The army contracted to make the treatment in tablet form, distributed them to the soldiers, and renamed the drug, “Seirogan,” Japanese for “Conquering Russia Pills.”

Japan went on to win the Russo-Japan war and to take control of Manchuria until after World War II. Today, a century later, you can ask the pharmacist at nearly any Asian pharmacy or Chinese medicine store what he recommends for treating mild diarrhea, and chances are he will hand you Seirogan.

The pills were licensed to a company called Taiko Pharmaceuticals some 53 years ago, and have been in widespread use in Asia ever since. Market research by the company showed that Japanese consumers give Seirogan nearly 100% brand name recognition, according to Tomoo Kuge, MD, head of research and development at Taiko and president of the company’s new American subsidiary. “The three big names we have in Japan are Sony, Honda, and Seirogan,” he says.

Now the company has embarked on clinical trials in an effort to convince US physicians and their patients that this botanical remedy can safely relieve mild diarrhea, even if it doesn’t manage to rival the nation’s top electronics and compact car trademarks. Seirogan was recently introduced in the US under Taiko’s Tenshin Essentials line of natural products.

Years of anecdotal experience with Seirogan in Asia shows that one or two 68 mg tablets can usually quell mild diarrhea within a day, reducing loose stools and relieving associated symptoms, such as abdominal pain and cramping. Wood creosote works to slow intestinal motility by inhibiting smooth muscle contractions and slowing water secretion in the upper colon. Company-run studies in lab animals showed that wood creosote could cut intestinal water secretion in rats challenged with Escherichia coli toxin by up to 68%.

In humans, Phase I safety trials using escalating doses of Seirogan showed few adverse events. Rates of headache and dizziness were low and similar to those seen with placebo, Dr. Kuge said of the 115-person trial.

Medicinal wood creosote, the primary active ingredient in Seirogan, is often confused with coal tar creosote. Coal tar creosote is blamed for cancers in thousands of coal miners and previously used as a wood preservative for railroad ties and telephone poles. Wood creosote is chemically quite different from coal tar creosote, and Dr. Kuge said that testing in an independent research lab showed no carcinogenic effects when wood creosote was given to laboratory animals in high doses for close to 2 years.

In addition to 67.5 mg wood creosote, each Seirogan tablet also contains 75 mg of geranium extract and 75 mg phellodendron bark.

Taiko, which is regulated as a pharmaceutical company in Japan, is funding a blinded multi-center Phase II clinical trial comparing Seirogan to loperamide HCl, the compound found in the popular over-the-counter anti-diarrhea drug Imodium. Investigators are attempting to pull together data in 220 patients taking one of two doses of Seirogan, loperamide, or placebo. The trials are ongoing at research centers in the US and Mexico. “We need to show efficacy in a scientific manner,” Dr. Kuge said in an interview with Holistic Primary Care. The company hopes to publish their results by summer, 2003.

In the meantime, experts recommend that patients trying Seirogan take one to two tablets for mild diarrhea. It should not be taken by patients with serious cases of infectious diarrhea or bloody stool.

In Japan, where Seirogan has been licensed by the government for nearly a century, use is restricted to children over 5 years old. Dr. Kuge said that most herbalists and experienced practitioners would not recommend Seirogan for children who are any younger than that. Adults should avoid taking more than a few tablets per day. “If you take it a lot some people may suffer constipation.”

Seirogan last year attained an official drug identification number from Canadian authorities, clearing the way for the product to enter Canada’s alternative therapies market.

The product is even used by many in Japan as a way to avoid spending a day in the bathroom after a long night drinking beer. If taken pre-emptively, it can reduce the intestinal water secretion that leads to dehydration and contributes to the etiology of hangovers. That may explain why the Japanese soldiers took such a liking to it.

And what about the product’s politically touchy name, Seirogan? How will Japan’s old foes feel about the Western world getting its first taste of “Conquering Russia Pills”? The diplomatic Dr. Kuge says that a shift in the use of Kanji lettering in Japan after World War II changed the direct English translation of Seirogan to “Justice for Russia Pills.” Besides, he says, “We don’t have a very good market in Russia now.”

Political correctness and military history aside, Seirogan does offer a safe and inexpensive botanical alternative to conventional OTC pharmaceuticals for treatment of mild diarrhea. For more information about Seirogan or other Tenshin Essentials products, contact Taiko Healthcare Inc., 5007 Pacific Hwy E., Ste 20, Fife, WA 98424. Tel: 877-824-5687, Fax: 253-926-0897. Email: customerservice@tenshinessentials.com.