- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:
The Next Step for Hemispherx’s Ampligen
Another week has passed and still no word from Hemispherx Biopharma(HEB Quote) on the approval of its chronic fatigue syndrome drug Ampligen. Here’s a prediction, more of a hunch, based on recent events: Hemispherx will soon announce that because of the current flu pandemic, the company has decided to withdraw its Ampligen application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Instead, the company will focus all its resources on working with its “international partners” to develop Ampligen as an adjuvant flu vaccine booster.
Professor on the frontline in fight to explain our casualties of war
It’s always fascinating, asking doctors about why, with so many disciplines to choose from, they selected their particular field and whether each discipline creates its own stereotype. Simon Wessely says he got “the Dr Kildare stuff” out of his system early on in his medical training and, because he had been taught psychiatry inspiringly at Oxford, began looking seriously at the subject quite early on. “I found some other areas, like surgery, a bit less thoughtful, and psychiatrists were the kind of people who were interesting to sit next to on a train.”
- Fibromyalgia:
Brain Imaging Study Sheds Light on Fibromyalgia
Changes in the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine may explain brain gray matter reductions experienced by patients with fibromyalgia, a new study suggests. Previous research found an association between fibromyalgia and reductions in gray matter, but the cause wasn’t known, the researchers wrote.
From Fatigued to Fantastic
The most popular and comprehensive book ever written on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia has been completely revised and updated with the latest scientific information, cutting-edge research and practical advice. More than 2.5 million Americans suffer every day with the debilitating effects of chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFS/CFIDS) and about three to six percent of the population (12-24 million Americans) battle fibromyalgia. Their baffling symptoms include severe, almost unrelenting fatigue, achiness, insomnia, memory and digestive troubles, weight gain, loss of libido and immune deficiencies. Sadly, these illnesses are frequently misdiagnosed or worse, dismissed by physicians, employers and loved ones.
Disorder still baffles, but pain is very clear
Fibromyalgia is Edie Allyn’s constant companion. “It’s there when I wake up in the morning,” Allyn said of the condition. “I take it out to dinner. It’s with me wherever I go.” It has been 26 years since Allyn, 49, started suffering the symptoms of fibromyalgia, characterized by chronic pain and fatigue. “My goal is to go a whole day without having to think about how to deal with the pain,” said Allyn, who lives in Stafford County. She still hasn’t accomplished her goal. Fibromyalgia causes widespread muscle aches, and patients suffer pain when even the slightest pressure is applied to many points on their bodies.
In my recent book The Truth About Fibromyalgia, I offer circumstantial evidence that deep sleep disruption leading to impaired limbic system recharging prevents limbic system from properly regulating pain or sympathetic nervous activity. Fibro is one of several such Central Sensitization Syndromes (irritable bowel, chronic fatigue, migraine, bladder/pelvic pains, etc.). Therapy must be directed at increasing the relatively low levels of GABA and serotonin, among others, while also improving sleep.
Clay mcCord MD
I feel sad for you all. There is an enormous amount of skepticism about FM due to lack of proven scientific evidence. The big drug companies have millions of dollars to gain and they are funding much of the campaign to pressure doctors to treat a phantom disease. It borders on scientific fraud.
In a recent poll 40% of doctors do not see the evidence to say that FM is actually a physiological disease. It raises a lot questions in terms of medical ethics and junk science. In the end, I trust that treu science will win out and junk science will be exposed.