TCM China:  

Record of Herbal Treatment Of Abdel from Sudan Improvement Of  ALS
 

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Brief Summary: On May 2, 2008, Abdel, from Indonesia, who suffered from difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as weakness of all the limbs, was hospitalized in our hospital. He himself thinks that he has achieved 20% improvement after more than 40-day TCM treatment here.

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Record of Hospitalization

Name: Abdel                                                                                                                Sex: Male

Age: 64                                                                                                                         Profession:  Medical Professor

Nationality: Sudan                                                                                                       Marital Status: Married

Onset Season:  Pure brightness                                                                                  Date of Admission: May 2, 2008  

Complainer: The patient himself                                                                                 Reliability: Reliable

 

First Medical Record

May 2, 2008

Abdel, a 64-year-old male, has suffered from difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as weakness of all the limbs for 16 years, and his condition has been aggravated by atrophy of all the limbs and disability in movement for half a year. He was hospitalized in Huaihua Red Cross Hospital for further treatment at 1: 30 a.m. May 2, 2008.

Essentials for Diagnosis:

1. The patient has suffered from difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as weakness of all the limbs for 16 years, and his condition has been aggravated by atrophy of all the limbs and disability in movement for half a year.

2. In 1992, the patient began to have difficulty in speaking and poor coordinative ability of left hand without any obvious causes, and his condition was aggravated gradually. In 1993, he suffered from troubles of chewing and swallowing. In 1994, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) after MRI examination. And then, his condition was aggravated progressively. In the recent half a year, he couldn¡¯t take care of himself. He has ever been prescribed by Rilutek, vitamin and vitamine-E for oral taking, but he got no obvious improvement. To seek for a further comprehensive treatment, he was hospitalized in our hospital on May 2, 2008. His present symptoms are as follows: difficulty in speaking and swallowing, sometimes with rapid breathing, disability of prostration and disability of raising his arms, and drooping of double hands. He is able to walk with the support but the left leg is unable to move. The patient used the wheelchair at present. His tongue was not able to do any movement, and the muscles all over the limbs twitched frequently. His spirit was poor, with sound sleep and poor food intake. His urination was normal, but the bowel movement was of constipation, once every 2 to 3 days.

3. T 36.3¡æ£¬P 89 beats/minute, R 22 times/minute, BP 110/80 mmHg.

4. He grew normally with common nutrition. His mind was clear. He had an expression of chronic illness and languidness. His body was in a positive posture and he was cooperative in examination.

5. His double arms were not able to lift up, and he got tired easily. The muscles of thenar and hypothenar, muscle of hukou, deltoid, and musculi triceps brachii of the double hands were atrophic. His upper limbs were Grade ¢òwith muscle hyperthyroidism. The gripping power of his left hand was 4.5 kg, and that of the right hand was 5.2 kg. His lower limbs were not able to walk. His lower limbs were also Grade ¢ò. The muscles of his limbs beat and twitched obviously. Besides, he had difficulty in speaking and swallowing. His tongue body was pale with slimy tongue coating. His pulse was weak.

6. No thoracic deformity. Sound of breath was bilaterally normal on auscultation. No sound of pleural friction. Heart border was normal. Heart beat was 89 times/min. Cardiac rhythm was regular. No pathological murmurs on auscultation.

7. Diagnostic examination: The MRI shows ¡°ALS¡±.

 

Diagnostic Basis:

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine): The patient has suffered from difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as weakness of all the limbs for 16 years, and his condition has been aggravated by atrophy of all the limbs and disability in movement for half a year. His symptoms were as follows: difficulty in speaking and swallowing, too much phlegm-drool, sometimes with rapid breathing, disability of prostration and disability of raising his arms with double hands drooping. His left leg could not move, and his tongue was not able to do any movement, and muscles all over the limbs twitched frequently. His spirit was poor, with sound sleep and poor food intake. His urination was normal, but the bowel movement was of constipation, once every 2 to 3 days. His tongue body was pale with slimy tongue coating. The pulse was weak. According to the symptoms of his tongue and pulse, it is shown that due to deficiency of qi and blood, insufficiency of the liquids, the patient could not nourish the muscles of his limbs. Then it gradually leads to the atrophy of his limbs. He is mainly characterized by weak limbs, emaciated muscles, which even cause his limbs to lose functions. So it is believed as wilting.

Western Medicine: The patient has suffered from difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as weakness of all the limbs for 16 years, and his condition has been aggravated by atrophy of all the limbs and disability in movement for half a year. His double arms were not able to lift up, and he got tired easily. The muscles of thenar and hypothenar, muscle of hukou, deltoid, and musculi triceps brachii of the double hands were atrophic. His upper limbs were Grade ¢òwith muscle hyperthyroidism. The gripping power of his left hand was 4.5 kg, and that of the right hand was 5.2 kg. His lower limbs were not able to walk. His lower limbs were also Grade ¢òwith muscle hyperthyroidism. The muscles of his limbs beat and twitched obviously. The MRI shows ¡°ALS¡±.

Diagnostic Differentiation:

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine): The patient¡¯s wilting syndrome should be differentiated from impediment syndrome. Wilting syndrome is characterized by limp, weak, and emaciated limbs with muscular atrophy. A patient suffered from Wilting syndrome seriously may even become unable to hold an object or to stand without any support. Besides, the patient usually has no joint pain. On the contrary, impediment syndrome is generally characterized by aching pain, fixed heaviness and inflexibility of sinews and bones, muscles and joints, with occasional numbness or swelling, though, no paralytic manifestations exist. They are not difficult to be distinguished in clinics.

Western Medicine: Wilting syndrome should be differentiated from Myasthenia Gravis (MG), which is an acquired autoimmune disease with the transferring obstacles owing to the reduced acetylcholine receptor in the site of neuromuscular junction. It can occur at any age. The most obvious characteristic of MG in clinics is rapid fatigability during the movement of the skeletal muscles, which will be improved by rest or cholinesterase. They are not difficult to be distinguished in clinics.

First Diagnosis: 

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) diagnosis: Wilting syndrome

Symptom diagnosis: Lungs-spleen qi vacuity, accompanied with vacuity of the liver and kidneys, phlegm-damp obstructing the channels.

Western Medicine diagnosis: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Plans for treatment strategy and nursing:

1. On routine care of traditional Chinese internal medicine.

2. On grade II care.

3. Under the care of a companion.

4. Regular diet.

5. Herbal tea (to supplement the spleen and boost the lungs, to enrich and nourish the liver and kidneys): one dosage a day and drink twice.

Main herbs used in the herbal tea: baisheng (white ginseng), baishu (ovate atractylodes root), fuling (poria), etc.

6. Acupuncture and massage: once a day.

7. Do functional exercise for all the limbs.

8. Have more medical examinations if necessary.

 

Date: May 3, 2008                               Time: 16:00 a.m.

The patient¡¯s routine examinations are as follows: the examinations of blood, urine, blood sugar, the function of the liver and kidneys were all normal. The patient has suffered from difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as weakness of all the limbs for 16 years, and his condition has been aggravated by atrophy of all the limbs and disability in movement for half a year. He kept a clear mind with mouth phlegm drooling. The movement of his tongue was limited due to atrophy, and even his tongue was not able to do any flexible movement. His tongue body was pale with slimy tongue coating. The pulse was weak. These symptoms belong to lungs-spleen qi vacuity, liver-kidneys depletion and phlegm-damp obstructing the channels. The TCM treatment strategy is to supplement the spleen and boost the lungs, enrich and supplement liver and kidneys, transform the phlegm and free the channels.

 

Date: May 6, 2008                               Time: 10:00 a.m.

The phlegm-drool in his mouth decreased. Besides, his spirit got better, while other symptoms were the same as before. His tongue was pale with slimy tongue coating. The pulse was weak. He would continue to take another 5 dosages of the herbal tea.

 

Date: May 11, 2008                               Time: 10:00 a.m.

His spirit got better. His swallowing also got improvement. Besides, the phlegm-drool in his mouth decreased obviously, but he still could not speak. His tongue was not able to do any movement. His deltoid was atrophic obviously, so he could neither raise his shoulder nor take a deep breath. He had difficulty in flexible movement of all the limbs. His tongue was pale with thin tongue coating. The pulse was weak. The TCM treatment strategy is still to supplement the spleen and boost the lungs, enrich and nourish the liver and kidneys, transform the phlegm and free the channels. The doctor advised his family numbers to help him to do some functional movement for his limbs.

 

Date: May 16, 2008                               Time: 10:00 a.m.

After the patient has been hospitalized for half a month, there was still no obvious improvement on the dysfunction of the limbs. The psoas and muscle adductor of the double legs were spastic with stiff double ankles. He was not able to stand or walk. Due to the long-term disease, his condition belongs to a chronic disease. TCM treatment strategy is still to supplement the spleen and boost the lungs, enrich and nourish the liver and kidneys, transform the phlegm and free the channels.

 

Date: May 23, 2008                        Time: 8:30 a.m.

The patient said that there was no obvious improvement as to his symptoms, while he felt great pains on his waist. There was no abnormality on the outlook of his waist, but with obvious pains when pressed. The patient was advised to do a CT examination in another hospital.

 

Date: May 27, 2008                               Time: 8:30 a.m.

After the CT examination on the lumbar vetebrae, the disci intervertebrales L3/ 4 and L4/ 5 bulged slightly. His condition was reported to Doc. Ming. The TCM treatment would continue as before.

     

Date: May 30, 2008                               Time: 9:00 a.m.

His symptoms were as before. After Dr. Huang feibo¡¯s diagnosis, he considered the patient¡¯s lumbar to be another treatment. Doc. Ming agreed to the treatment. At the same time, his TCM treatment would continue as before.

 

Date: June 1, 2008                               Time: 9:00 a.m.

Dr. Huang feibo, as well as the patient and his family all agreed to another treatment. Then the patient was prescribed some western medicines. At the same time, he was advised to reflect his feeling about his stomach, so as to take measures to protect his stomach.

 

Date: June 5, 2008                               Time: 9:00 a.m.

After taking the medicine, the patient neither feel any discomfort on his stomach nor feel his appetite decreased. His pulse was fine, and his tongue was white. He would continue to take another 5 dosages of herbal tea of the same prescription.

 

Date: June 10, 2008                               Time: 9:00 a.m.

There was no other discomfort except the painful lumbar. His pulse was fine and weak, and his tongue coating was white. His herbal tea was adjusted as follows: huangqi (astragalus root), baisheng (white ginseng), zaopi (cornus fruit), etc.

 

Date: June 15, 2008                               Time: 9:00 a.m.

The patient demanded to leave the hospital today, and he was approved to leave the hospital this afternoon.

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