Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease, may not be a life-threatening health condition, but it certainly can threaten the quality of one's life in a major way. Imagine pain, discomfort and an irresistible urge to move your legs – particularly at night, when getting a good night's sleep essentially requires not moving your body at all.
That's RLS in a nutshell, and unfortunately, anti-seizure or Parkinson's medications are often a primary treatment option. But perhaps not for long, because recent research by D. Xia, et al., has found that a TCM protocol consisting of acupuncture and a modified version of the herbal formula Gui Zhi Long Gu Mu Li Tang is not only as effective as the drug gabapentin (an FDA-approved anti-seizure drug for treating RLS), but comes with a significantly lower risk of side effects than the medication.
In the study, patients diagnosed with restless legs syndrome were randomized into an acupuncture-plus-herbs group or a medication group for comparison. The latter received 0.2 grams of gabapentin in tablet form, three times a day for 30 days. The former received acupuncture at the Jiaji points of L4-5 and L5-S1 daily for the same 30 days. Acupuncture patients also received Gui Zhi Long Gu Mu Li Tang in 200 ml doses, three times daily for 30 days.
While symptom relief proved similar in patients in the medication arm and the acupuncture-herb arm, side-effect rates varied significantly: a mere 2.5 percent adverse effect rate in the acupuncture-herb group vs. a 37.5 percent adverse effect rate in the drug group.
Editor's Note: The above is derived from an English translation of study parameters / findings published by HealthCMi. Click here for the complete summary on the HealthCMi site.
Over my almost 30 years in clinical practice, I have used Chai Hu Long Gu Mu Li Tang extensively for a wide array of clinical presentations ranging from chronic headaches to anxiety, insomnia, and prescription drug withdrawal symptoms if these situations fit the appropriate patterns – all with extremely positive clinical outcomes.
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