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An article in the media talks about how ME/CFS is now gaining respect as a real, physical illness. In the article Chronic Fatigue No Longer Seen as ‘Yuppie Flu’, David Tuller talks about the US CDC's release of studies that show evidence of genetic mutations and abnormalities in gene expression involved in key physiological processes.
More on Media Article: 'Chronic Fatigue No Longer Seen as 'Yuppie Flu'
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Well it now seems that eating a few squares of quality chocolate can do more than give us a nice warm feeling inside!
More on Media Article: "Chocolate helps ME sufferers"
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A recent study carried out gives a glimmer of hope for the pain and misery felt by sufferers of Fibromyalgia.
More on Media Article: "New Study Gives Hope for Fibromyalgia Sufferers"
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Thankfully, more and more organisations, bodies and agencies are sitting up and taking notice of those afflicted with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other associated illnesses…
More on Media Article: "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 'Real'"
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There are many cases of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome occurring in patients who have suffered a viral infection…
More on Media Article: "Virus-Related Muscle Damage Tied to Chronic Fatigue"
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Due to the problems regarding the lack of prescription drugs to combat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, many sufferers are now seeking alternative ways of beating their symptoms.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) are used to gain emotional and physical relief from their symptoms.
(…) "EFT is a do-it-yourself acupressure technique with an 80% success rate."
(…) "Conventional treatment for CFS is a complex combination of drug and non-drug therapies. EFT simply involves fingertip tapping on select acupressure points while focusing on the physical or emotional symptom in question. EFT claims an 80% success rate in calming symptoms associated with serious diseases like CFS and cancer."
PR Web Press Release, 23 October 2006
For the full article, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Sufferers of ME/CFS often have to deal with the added complication of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Researchers in America have been looking into the use of a traveller's antibiotic which has eliminated symptoms of IBS for up to 10 weeks after the drug was first prescribed.
(…) "Dr. Mark Pimentel and colleagues at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles gave 87 sufferers either 400 mg of rifaximin three times a day for 10 days or a placebo.
(…) "Use of rifaximin helped overall symptoms and the benefits lasted for the full 10 weeks of follow-up, Pimental's team reported.
(…) "The fact that the benefit of the targeted antibiotic continued even after it was stopped provides evidence that the antibiotic was acting on a source of the problem: excess bacteria in the gut," he said in a statement."
Reuters, Monday 16 October 2006
To read the full article, click
here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Are you eligible for a grant? The ME Association has recently reported on the availability of grants for home heating and insulation. If eligible, you could receive a grant of up to 4,000 GBP. To read the article, click here. Meg Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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The ME Association has released a brief summary of some of the key points that were discussed at a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) meeting held at the Royal Overseas League in London on Thursday 5 October 2006.
To read the summary, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Does talking about your condition help you?
Talking therapy and exercise therapy has helped some sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The work was recently carried out by NICE.
(…) "The work in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine was commissioned by the NHS's drug advisor NICE, which is drawing up guidance for doctors.
(…) To assess which treatments work best, Mr Duncan Chambers and colleagues at the University of York looked at 70 individual CFS studies.
(…) Cognitive behavioural and exercise therapies appeared to reduce symptoms and improve physical function in adult patients with CFS.
For the full story, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Are you in pain on a daily basis? A conference taking place at Green Bay Wisconsin, to mark September's Pain Awareness Month, is attempting to take a team view of pain, and crucially, its alleviation.
The work involves medical treatment complemented with physical therapy, psychotherapy and massage therapy to name but a few.
It is hoped that the team effort will go far to help those suffering with chronic pain.
The article also carries some pain definitions, common misconceptions and a 10-point scale on pain which staff at the Green Bay centre find helpful in their communications with patients.
"Chronic pain is really nasty if it's not managed," says Becky Wolf, a nurse practitioner in the Pain Management Centre at Green Bay. "You can go from an active, vital person to sitting at home unable to even cook for yourself."
Jean Peerenboom - greenbaypressgazette.com
It is a very interesting article - I certainly hope you'll agree!
Read the full article here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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David S Bell, MD and Editor of the Lyndonville News, is considering writing a book about ME/CFS. In the link given below, David Bell gives the first chapter of part of this new book and explores the role of infection in initiating ME/CFS.
(…) Dr Bell writes: "I would estimate that there may be more than ten causes of the process we are calling ME/CFS."
(…) "It is the classic presentation of a previously healthy person who develops a commonplace sinus infection or bronchitis and then never gets better. That seventy five percent of all persons with ME/CFS begin this way is a reasonable guess."
(…) "For some, the illness comes on gradually without a clear initiating event."
David S Bell
Editor
Lyndonville News
To read the full chapter, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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I'm grateful to George from the Sleepydust forum for bringing this link to our attention - thanks, George!
Dr Paul Cheney has been filmed giving a talk on CFS and heart malfunction. In the video, Dr Cheney explores the correlation between CFS patients and a malfunction with their heart's left ventricular's function. It seems that this malfunction causes the heart not to fill with as much blood, therefore the output is much decreased. This is called mild Diastolic Dysfunction - Grade 1. This condition cannot be picked up by a normal ECG. However, it is important to stress that Dr Cheney believes that this type of dysfunction is not a life-threatening disease.
The video, although very interesting, is rather long. I recommend you let it download, walk away and make a cup of tea, and go back to it regularly for viewing.
To access the video, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
Click the bright blue link (just below) to read the full news article.
For sufferers of ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia, chronic pain can be all too common. Now, the University of Edinburgh has conducted research to suggest that a chemical compound, when applied to the skin, can relieve the effects of chronic pain.
(…) "Lead researcher Susan Fleetwood-Walker, professor of pain biology at the Centre for Neuroscience Research, Edinburgh University, said: "We are crying out for new treatments. Chronic pain can have an awful effect on a person's life quality."
(…) "Professor Fleetwood-Walker and colleagues investigated the analgesic qualities of a chemical called icilin, which is related to menthol."
(…) "Professor Fleetwood-Walker said, "One of the exciting things about icilin is that it can be used in minute concentrations and it is sufficient to just paint it on the surface of the skin where the pain is to cause a painkilling effect that could last for hours afterwards."
BBC Health News, 22 August 2006
To read the full article, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Do you suffer from Sinusitis?
New research has uncovered a strong like between Sinusitis and Chronic Fatigue/Pain.
Personally, I find this research very interesting as a year before I became ill with PVFS, I was plagued by constant sinus problems.
(…) "Dr. Alexander Chester, an internist at Georgetown University Medical Center, surveyed almost 300 of his patients and found that those who reported unexplained chronic fatigue were nine times more likely to have sinusitis symptoms than those who felt rested and well.
(…) "Also, patients who said they had unexplained body pain were six times more likely than the pain-free patients to have such symptoms of sinusitis as facial pressure, heavy-headedness or frontal headache, Chester says."
(…) "When compared to a control group of people without unexplained chronic fatigue or body pain, those with unexplained chronic fatigue were nine times more likely to have sinusitis symptoms. And those who reported unexplained body pain were six times more likely to have sinus symptoms than the control group, the study found.
Pak Tribune, 17 August 2006
Read the full article here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Thanks to Claire, our Sleepydust editor, for highlighting this story.
There is no question that access to the World Wide Web, via the Internet can help us in so many different ways: communication, information, inspiration, and entertainment. However, as a recent report shows, it is important not to rely solely on the information held in online sources…
A Which report recounts the sad story of misdiagnosing health complaints online and cites the example of a Thailand woman who had misdiagnosed herself with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As a result of her taking steroids for a period of 4 years she has now damaged her eyesight.
Many potentially dangerous drugs are now freely available for purchase online and Internet users are warned of the possible consequences of "treating" themselves.
To read the full article, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
Click the bright blue link (just below) to read the full news article.
We all know that its lovely to see the sun shine. With it, brings many health benefits - if it is enjoyed safely, and in moderation, that is.
Recently, I reported here on the warnings issued prior to the heatwave we've had here in the UK.
Experts feel it is again important to warn the public as to how they should behave in excessively hot conditions.
"Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say plans will have to be constantly updated to cope.
This year the UK had its hottest month since records began in 1960, with one July days hitting a record 36.5C.
The British Medical Journal paper said vulnerable people should be targeted.
When temperatures remain abnormally high over more than a couple of days, the excessive heat can prove fatal."
BBC Website, 11 August 2006
To read the full article, which contains interactive advice, click here.
Please enjoy the sun safely!
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
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Many ME/CFS sufferers can also suffer from depression as a secondary condition. The treatment of anti-depressants is very common by GPs. However, treating the condition often takes weeks, months or even years.
A recent US study has shown the speed at which Ketamine can help depression symptoms in sufferers. The work still needs more investigation and the drug itself will require some adaptation, but initial tests seem positive.
"Lead researcher Dr Carlos Zarate Junior, head of the mood and anxiety disorders programme at NIMH, said: "Within 110 minutes, half of the patients given ketamine showed a 50% decrease in symptoms."
By the end of day one, he added, 71% had responded to the drug. And at this point the team found 29% of these patients were nearly symptom free.
The researchers also discovered one dose lasted for at least a week in more than one-third of the participants."
BBC Website, 7 August 2006
At the moment, Ketamine is used by some as a recreational drug. It is thought that it can be adapted safely so that one injection can improve the symptoms of depression in sufferers.
To read the full article, click here.
Meg
Sleepydust Newspaper Coordinator
