Objective

2

To observe the clinical effect and safety of Governer Vessel

（督脉） moxibustion on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis （ALS） patients with spleen and kidney

yang

deficiency.

Methods

2

Forty-four ALS patients with spleen and kidney

yang

deficiency were finally enrolled， and they were divided into 22 cases each in the treatment group and the control group. The control group was treated with oral riluzole tablets， intravenous drip of edaravone injection， oral

Qiu's Wenshen Zhiwei Decoction

（裘氏温肾止痿汤）， and conventional rehabilitation nursing， while the treatment group was additionally given Governer Vessel moxibustion based on the control group. The moxibustion treatment was applied once a week for a course of 2 weeks. Both groups were treated for 3 months. The scores of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptom score in integ

rative treatments （ALS-SSIT） for evaluating therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale-revised （ALSFRS-R） were assessed before treatment and after 1 month， 2 months and 3 months treatment， and the occurrence of adverse reactions in both groups was observed.

Results

2

The treatment group showed a significant decrease in oropharyngeal function score， muscle function score， and non-motor symptom score， and an increase in ALSFRS-R scale scores after 1， 2， and 3 months of treatment （

P

＜0.05）. The scores of oropharyngeal function and muscle function in the control group increased， while the ALSFRS-R score decreased after 1， 2 and 3 months of treatment， and the non-motor symptom score decreased after 2 and 3 months of treatment （

P

＜0.05）. The scores of muscle function and non-motor symptoms in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group after 1 month of treatment； the scores of oropharyngeal function， muscle function and non-motor symptoms were lower than those in the control group， while the ALSFRS-R score was higher after 2 months and 3 months of treatment （

P

＜0.05）. Constipation （3 cases）， skin itching （2 cases）， skin rash （1 case）， and dry mouth and tongue （1 case） occurred in the treatment group， while there were 2， 1， 2， and 2 cases of each adverse reaction in the control group， respectively， with no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups （

P

＞0.05）.

Conclusion

2

Du mai

moxibustion on the basis of integrated Chinese and western medication and conventional rehabilitation care can help improve some clinical symptoms of ALS patients with spleen-kidney

yang

deficiency， and has good safety.