Recent - 2003-2005 - medical information about ME/CFS
I am in the 27th year of having ME/CFS and I am a firm believer in science,
rational thinking, mathematics and logic, and indeed spent a lot of time on
these subjects. Also, I have an M.A. in psychology.
Unfortunately for me and everyone else who really has M.E. much of the
medical, psychiatric and psychological reasoning and publications about ME/CFS
these 25 years has been not very scientific nor very rational.
Fortunately for me and everyone else who really has M.E. there are good
medical doctors, and now and then there are scientific publications about M.E.
which are sensible.
Here is a recent - 2003 - publication with a few comments
A. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:
Clinical Working Case Definition, Diagnostic and Treatment
Protocols
This is a pdf file of 222 Kb (so you need Adobe Acrobat to read it,
which you can get for free on many places on the net if you don't have it).
Also, it is partial: This was sent to me from England, with the notification
that it is a publication from the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, vol
11(1), 2003, and that those who want more than the 30 pages of the publication
in this pdf-file have to pay money to the Haworth Press.
O well - my income in Holland is ... 400 Euro 13 cents a month, and I don't
see how I could afford to pay this. But no doubt there are many medically
qualified persons who have earned a lot of money doing or pretending to do
something about M.E. who earn my total monthly income in one or two hours, and
I suppose they can pay and subtract it from their taxes.
Apart from this and the fact this free handout stops at page 30 when the
treatment protocol starts it is a good medical report.
What this report does not offer is a scientific explanation for
ME/CFS: It describes the symptoms of M.E. and it counsels medical people how
to treat patients with ME/CFS in a sensible humane and scientific manner.
The next item does offer a scientific explanation for ME/CFS:
B. Novel Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Theory Finally Produces
Detailed Explanations for Many CFS Observations
This is indeed a new theory on ME/CFS by dr. Martin Pall, who is Professor
of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University.
This comes from ImmuneSupport.com, which is a privately owned American firm
that sells orthomolecular medicine. It caters especially to people with ME/CFS
and has useful regular information for patients with ME/CFS.
I do not know whether the theory is true and since it is very new it will
need testing, discussion and experimenting, but it is good sensible science of
the type I like, since I have been convinced for 20 years that the best hope
for patients with ME is a good biochemical theory that accounts for the
symptoms.
The third and last item is a link to the site of the
CFSCentrumAmsterdam, namely
to a file about their approach to trying to help patients with ME/CFS, which
is a substance called l-carnitine:
C.
Some
information about carnitine
In August 2005 I was accepted as a patient at the
CFSCentrumAmsterdam, and I
have been taking carnitine ever since - i.e. some 3 months. It may help some,
and it has not had any bad effects, both as far as I can see, and for the time
being.
The reason to report it is that this is about the only presently credible
medical therapy for ME/CFS. It also is experimental, and there are no
guarantees of anything.