Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease” or “gradual freezing disease” in Chinese, is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the world’s five most severe incurable illnesses. In modern medicine, it is widely regarded as a progressive and irreversible fatal condition.
Yet Wang Zhiyuan, a physician and medical researcher who was formally diagnosed with the disease, has publicly shared an account of what he describes as a full recovery. In an interview aired on the YouTube program Drizzle Life, Wang recounts his journey from diagnosis and despair to what he calls a renewed life.
Dr. Wang Zhiyuan is confronted with a ‘medical death sentence’
Wang spent many years working within China’s military medical system, specializing in aerospace medicine and participating in multiple research projects. His wife is a practicing neurologist. According to Wang, he began experiencing clear symptoms in 1983 and was subsequently diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy, a form of motor neuron disease.
The illness is caused by degeneration of spinal motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness that typically begins in the limbs, progresses to muscle atrophy, and eventually results in respiratory failure.
“This is a disease doctors least want to face, yet cannot avoid confronting,” Wang said. As a trained physician, he said he fully understood what the diagnosis meant.
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When the illness struck, Wang said his family, with its medical background, had a clearer yet heavier understanding of the likely outcome than most patients.
Years of treatment with no improvement
Over more than a decade following his diagnosis, Wang sought treatment at some of China’s top medical institutions, including Beijing’s PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), the Air Force General Hospital, and West China University of Medical Sciences. He tried Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and various alternative therapies, but his condition continued to worsen.
At his lowest point, Wang said his weight dropped to about 118 jin (approximately 59 kilograms). Walking just a few hundred meters left him exhausted. His memory deteriorated to the point where he often could not recall his own home address. Prolonged illness and physical decline also placed severe strain on his family life.
“The whole household was enveloped in a silent despair,” he recalled.
In 1995, Wang went to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to conduct research, hoping that the world’s most advanced medical environment might offer a final possibility. Instead, intense academic competition combined with his worsening health left him feeling, in his words, that he had “nearly reached the end of life.”
A turning point after beginning spiritual practice
Wang said the turning point came in February 1998, when he was introduced by a friend to Falun Gong and began practicing it. He described experiencing strong physical and mental reactions on the first day of attending a nine-day instructional program.
“That feeling was not a psychological suggestion. It was a very real physical change,” he said. On his way home that evening, he said he felt mentally clear and physically energized for the first time in years, as if awakening from a long coma.
Over the following weeks, symptoms such as chronic stomach problems and extreme fatigue gradually disappeared. About three months later, his weight increased to over 150 jin (approximately 75 kilograms), and his hemoglobin levels returned to normal. Most striking to him, he said, was that the muscle atrophy—previously deemed “irreversible” by the medical community—did not continue to progress.
Illness as an unexpected blessing
Wang also recounted his mother’s experience. She had been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer and was told she had only weeks to live. At his suggestion, she began practicing Falun Gong. According to Wang, within less than a month her physical condition improved markedly, and follow-up examinations showed no detectable signs of cancer.
Wang’s experience, he said, is one among many accounts shared by Falun Gong practitioners who describe recovery from serious illnesses, including lupus and advanced-stage cancers. These stories, he said, highlight what participants view as realities beyond the framework of modern medicine, involving spiritual practice and the search for meaning in life.
Rethinking life’s purpose
Years of confronting a terminal illness led Wang to reexamine the meaning of life. He said what ultimately lifted him out of despair was not only physical recovery, but also an inner awakening and sense of stability he attributes to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
“At that moment, I realized that living is not about fearing death, but about finding the true direction of life,” he said.
As someone who considers himself a direct beneficiary, Wang has repeatedly urged people to have an open and rational mindset. He described the opportunity to practice Falun Gong as “extremely rare” and encouraged others not to dismiss it lightly.
“Many things can only be understood by experiencing them firsthand,” he said, expressing hope that his story might offer a measure of courage to those facing illness or personal hardship.
Editor’s Note: This article is based on the personal testimony of the subject as shared in a publicly available video interview. Claims related to disease recovery following spiritual practice have not been independently verified and are presented as the individual’s own account.
