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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Studies
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The CDC estimates in the early 1990s, based on people receiving medical treatment, projected the number of people with chronic fatigue syndrome to be 10 per 100,000. The 1999 prevalence study, which evaluated a large random sample of people in metropolitan Chicago, reveals rates of 422 people per 100,000. When a whole community was studied, not just people under a doctor's care, the numbers increased significantly. The new numbers reveal 800,000 adults in the United States have chronic fatigue syndrome, twice the number of people with multiple sclerosis.
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The Hunter-Hopkins Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, is seeking persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to participate in an FDA-approved study of the drug Ampligen. Ampligen is an anti-viral immune modulating drug that has shown promise in the management of CFS. The treatment is administered twice weekly for 16 months. This is a crossover study, so all subjects will receive the active drug for either 6 or 16 months. There is no charge for the treatment, laboratory, or medical follow-up for this study. It is recommended that subjects live with a 1-2 hour drive of the Center.
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Recent studies have shown that chronic fatigue syndrome may be caused by inflammation of pathways in the nervous system, and that this inflammation may be some sort of immune response or process. CFS may occur when a viral illness is complicated by a problem with the body's immune response. Other factors such as age, prior illness, stress, environment, or genetics may ... play a role. CFS most commonly occurs in women ages 30 to 50.
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The cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is unknown. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), studies have shown that chronic fatigue syndrome may result from an abnormal immune system response that causes inflammation within the nervous system. In some cases, the disease may be triggered by the combination of an inadequate immune system and a virus. Physical trauma (e.g., surgery) may ... trigger CFS.
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Even more shocking, the study revealed that only 10 percent of those with chronic fatigue syndrome had been previously diagnosed. Thus, 90 percent of people with the illness are struggling to maintain normal lives without the benefit of medical diagnosis or treatment. The study reveals a hidden epidemic that hits women disproportionately, devastates lives and costs billions of dollars annually.
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Some medical researchers believe that viral infection can be a factor in the onset of Chronic Fatigue syndrome. One effect of several viruses is that they can prevent cells from manufacturing these important omega-3 (such as EPA) and omega-6 fatty acids. Indeed in a study by Professor Peter Behan, Professor Wilhemina Behan and Professor David Horrobin, the blood fatty acid levels of participants with CFS was lower than those participants in the ‘normal’ group.
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