Maciocia lays out a progression of TCM patterns that outlines his approach to MS. The first part is an invasion of external dampness. This begins in the legs and moves upward. The middle stage is "Kidney-Liver Deficiency [causing] blurred vision, weakness of legs, dizziness, vertigo, urinary hesitation or urgency" (702) and/or "Liver-Yang rising [causing] stiffness of legs, vertigo, [and] vomiting." The late stage consists of "liver-Wind" causing "tremor, spasms, and paraplegia."

Maciocia begins the chapter by looking at etiologies. For the Dampness, he sees this as resulting from any activity that exposes one to a damp situation such as a damp living environment, damp weather, and the like. He also notes that women are more prone to damp after menses and childbirth. The dampness "obstructs the channels and causes a feeling of heaviness in the legs, numbness, and tingling" (701)

The next etiology is Diet. He discusses eating too much greasy-fried or cold foods, combined with excessive dairy products leading to dampness.

The third etiology is excessive sexual activity weakening the kidneys and liver. The last etiology he mentions is Shock. "Shock causes a sudden depletion of Heart- and Spleen-Qi. This causes a deficiency in the muscles (via the spleen), and in the circulation of Blood (via the heart). both of these contribute to "weakness of the legs, dizziness, and vertigo."

For treatments, he outlines only two main patterns for MS: damp-phlegm with spleen deficiency and Liver and kidney Deficiency. He recommends acupuncture. For the first pattern, REN 12, BL 20, SP 9, SP 6, and ST 40 using reducing or even method. For the second pattern, he recommends KD 3, REN 4, BL 23, SP 6, LR 8, BL 18, SI 3, BL 62, LR 3, and GB 20. He list herbal formulas for both patterns, and case histories as well.

He has a section at the end of the chapter on acupuncture in which he recommends using extraordinary vessels, huatuojiaji points, points on the DU meridian, and Scalp acupuncture. He pays particular attention to using the Dai mai for its connection to dampness and he quotes chapter 44 of the Simple Questions (huang Di Nei Jing su wen): "When the bright yang channels are deficient, the girdle vessel cannot bind and atrophy of the legs will result." He also talks about the need to needle in the affected areas to remove local blockages.

In his prognosis section he writes that Chinese medicine cannot offer a cure, it can help considerably with the disease. He feels that if people are still walking when they come into the clinic, then they can be helped considerably, but if they are already in a wheelchair, then there is relatively little that Chinese medicine can do for them. He also recommends starting treatment, and making life-style changes, as early in the course of disease as possible for the best results.