Open Randomized Clinical Trial on JWSJZ Decoction for the Treatment of ALS Patients

Weidong Pan,Hua Zhou,Jun Wang,Jie Bao,Li Yu,Dingfang Cai,Xiaojing Su,Jin Zhu

doi:10.1155/2013/347525

Abstract

Objective. To investigate the efficacy and safety of the traditional Chinese medicine Jiawei Sijunzi (JWSJZ) decoction for the treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods. Forty-eight patients with ALS were divided into a JWSJZ group (n = 24) and a control group (n = 24) using a randomized number method. Together with the basic treatment for ALS, JWSJZ decoction was added to the treatment regimen of patients in the JWSJZ group or Riluzole was administered to the control group for 6 months. Neurologists evaluated the treated and control patients using the ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS) before, 3 and 6 months after starting the additional treatments. Results. The ALSFRS scores in both groups were lower 3 and 6 months after treatment than before. There was a significant difference at 6 months after treatment between the subgroups of patients with ALS whose limbs were the initial site of attack. No serious adverse effects were observed in the JWSJZ group. Conclusion. JWSJZ decoction may be a safe treatment for ALS, and may have delayed the development of ALS, especially in the subgroup of patients in whom the limbs were attacked first when compared with Riluzole treatment.

Highlights

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a relatively rare, adult-onset, rapidly progressive, and fatal disease that involves degeneration of spinal cord motor neurons [1]
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of motor neurons in the motor cortex, brain stem, and spinal cord, leading to paralysis and death, typically within 3–5 years from symptom onset
The “Stomach is the reservoir of food and drink” and “the sources of Qi and blood manufacture” according to Huangdi Neijing [3], which demonstrates that “Yang Ming is the sea of the viscera internal organs of the body, it can embellish muscle tendons, and the muscle tendons can modify the movement of the joints.”

Summary

Introduction

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a relatively rare, adult-onset, rapidly progressive, and fatal disease that involves degeneration of spinal cord motor neurons [1]. This disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body, and patients with ALS lose all voluntary movement. ALS is diagnosed as “flaccidity syndrome” by traditional Chinese theory based on the weakness and atrophy of limbs and body and the fact that most patients are eventually unable to stand or walk, get in or out of bed on their own, use their hands and arms, and have difficulty with chewing, swallowing, and breathing, which lead to progressive weight loss and increased risk of choking and aspiration pneumonia. We investigated the effects of JWSZJ decoction in the treatment of patients with ALS at 6 months and compared them with those of Riluzole, the only possibly effective “orphan drug” for treating ALS, in an attempt to demonstrate an evidence-based quantitative study of the effects of JWSJZ decoction

Methods

Results

Conclusion