As you probably have guessed, this week's emphasis is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome here on the Health Matters Show blog. That is appropriate and I'll tell you why.
When I got so terribly sick in 1990 and could hardly walk or sit up in a chair (away from my bed for more than a few minutes at the time), my doctor ran a bunch of blood tests to find out what was wrong with me.
That's when we both discovered...
Well, I guess we both found out more than we wanted to know about a new, emerging illness that was not only hitting the likes of Incline Village, Nevada, but other areas of the country and world, too. It was dubbed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS or CFIDS, Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) in the United States.
At the time no one had a better name for it. Those with CFS had the predominant symptom of severe, incapacitating fatigue. No precipitating "cause" had been found to give it a more specific, definitive name. Scientists still haven't found a cause or a cure.
The people within this Chronic Fatigue Syndrome group had many symptoms, but fatigue was the most common complaint.
Resuts from my blood test indicated that I was suffering with at least four horrendous viruses. Today, some eighteen years later, let's talk about three of them:
- Epstein Barr Virus, (EBV) or Mononucleosis
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
- Human Herpes Virus-6 or HHV-6
Singly each virus can be rough. Endured at one time, they can throw anyone for a proverbial loop. No one should have to endure such agony. What's important to know today are some basic facts about CFS and herpes viruses, in particular.
There are many herpes viruses in our world. It seems like science discovers another new one quite often.
Once you have a herpes virus, a leftover portion of it (a memory) resides within your body's immune system memory forever, unless you can get rid of it in some way-- completely.
Yes, forever. According to western medicine/ science, old viral antibodies can infect us again easily if the body:
- gets run down from too much stress (or trauma),
- does not get enough good, deep sleep,
- has a vitamin deficiency (from not eating properly),
- suffers from you (or me) constantly "burning the candle at both ends" -or-
- is the lucky recipient of another illness trigger.
As members of the human race, you and I (to some degree) are susceptible to viruses, bacteria, mycoplasmas, parasites, etc. It's nice to have some clues and shortcuts for getting over and recovering from them.
See you Friday,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show
PS- Be sure to send us a blog post if you've had a tough virus. Tell us how it affected your life and health.
Comments (2)
I'm surprised you know about Incline Village and the relation between CFS and reactivated herpes viruses, but still would say "At the time no one had a better name for it", which is not the case at all.
The illness already had a name, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis(ME), a specific World Health Organization reference code since 1969- G93.3 under neurological diseases, and had existed in the medical literature(under different names, but experts agree that they all refer to ME) both as a sporadic and epidemic disease process since 1934, beginning with the outbreak in LA County hospital documented by U.S. Asst. Surgeon General Alexander(Sandy) Gilliam.
All the above is documented in the book 'Osler's Web', by Hillary Johnson which can be bought second hand at Amazon, BN.com, or Alibris for a few dollars. Well worth the read.
http://www.fm-cfs.ca/ME_epidemic.html
Posted by John | November 20, 2008 8:18 AM
Posted on November 20, 2008 08:18
Dear John, Thanks so much for your reply. You and I are not really talking oppositely and I'll tell you why. When I say "they" didn't have a better name for it, I'm really only speaking of US mainstream media. Of course, there was quite a history behind these illnesses (CFS & ME) that eventually proved to be valuable clues of each condition and how each one was related to illness on a global scale. However, few people acknowledged the validity of CFS or this obvious history for a long time to come. Some still don't! [If you remember back to the 1980s and 1990s, even the CDC (Center for Disease Control) tried to determine if this was a disease outbreak and threw in the fears of contagion!] It sounds as if you either have this within your history or you're familiar with it for some other reason. I applaud your involvement and caring that the truth come out. (And, yes, Hillary Johnson wrote a powerful book. It's just a shame that after all the years, we cannot close the book on CFS.) Again, thanks for your powerful comment. I welcome your contribution.
Posted by Cinda Crawford
|
November 20, 2008 6:41 PM
Posted on November 20, 2008 18:41