The follow-up study on patients of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after 1 year

Kim, Hyun-Sik; Song, Bong-Kuen; Park, Man-Yong; Lim, Na-Ra; Kim, Sung-Ha; Kim, Sung-Chul

Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS); ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised(ALSFRS-R); Medical Research Council(MRC) Scale; SAAM-acupuncture; Pharmacopuncture therapy

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3831/KPI.2010.13.1.121

Objectives : This study was to investigate the effects of Oriental medical treatment on ALS. Methods : We investigated 12 ALS patients which were admitted to Gwang-Ju O.M.hospital for 3 months and follow-up at 8 months after discharge. All patients were treated by SAAM-acupuncture, herb medication, Bee venom Pharmacopuncture therapy, Needle-embedding therapy, etc and after discharge self-therapy at home. We evaluated patients using the Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised(ALSFRS-R), Medical Research Council (MRC) Scale. Results : After 1 month, mean ALSFRS-R score of patients was , 2 months , 3 months , 1 year and mean MRC Scale of patients was , 2 months , 3months . But in both cases, the variation was not statistically significant. Conclusions : We think that the results of this case be a pilot study that proves the effect of Oriental Medical treatment on ALS.