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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Dr. Paul Goldberg
The popularity of the term “Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome” began in the late 1980's, and to modern standard medicine
is one of the most baffling human ailments known to man. With symptoms that resemble medical entities
such as systemic lupus, lymphoma, and other defined medical conditions, physicians
are often hesitant to give the diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, worried
that the patient may have a life threatening disease and receive a
misdiagnosis.
What Is
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
There has been considerable difficulty in arriving at a working definition of
what Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is. The
major difficulty is to know what it is that is being looked for! It is clear that "CFS" is not an
illusion, but at the same time there is (conventionally) little known about
"its" causes. A literature
search fails to identify a specific set of laboratory data that are universally
positive with all patients. This is
further evidence that CFS patients have a variety of different problems
existing rather than suffering from a single, distinct, etiological
entity. We know very little by conventional standards about CFS. Might the answers lie in looking closer at
the basic human condition and understanding what the common denominators for
illness are in all cases of impaired health?
Why Is It So Prevalent In Our Society Today?
As a private practitioner, chronic disease epidemiologist, Natural Hygienist
and Professor of Nutrition for the past eighteen years, I suggest consideration
and exploration of two principles: basic health picture and biochemical
individuality.
1. Basic Health Picture
The one common denominator for
CFS is poor health. Patients fail to improve, (as they do with
CFS under conventional management), as long as their basic health picture is
overlooked. It is amazing how many
patients have learned to accept feeling run down as a way of life. After all, the patient asks," doesn't
everyone have these kinds of problems?"
Sadly, the answer may soon be yes. More and more individuals in our society are
experiencing physical degeneration
at earlier ages, and chronic fatigue becomes the norm, accompanied by muscle pains and
aches, headaches, indigestion, irritability, skin outbreaks, reliance on coffee
and other stimulants, sleep disturbances, and gradually and insidiously these
have been swept into the realm of normalcy.
The initial step in addressing the patients chronic fatigue problem is to address
the overall health. Included in this
are rest, sleep, sunshine, recreation, activity, significant others, pure
water, fresh air, appropriate diet, avoidance of overeating, mental poise,
absence of toxic habits e.g. coffee, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, etc. These factors are those most basic to what
make us up as human beings and yet are those most overlooked.
2.
Biochemical Individuality
Factors that relate to the patient's individual chemical make up must be
explored. The patient’s biochemical
individuality (a term used by the late Roger Williams Ph.D., Nutritional
Biochemist of the
Case Study
A forty year old female with a
ten year history of declining health presented at my office. She had consulted previously with numerous medical
physicians and had received diagnoses of irritable bowel syndrome, headaches,
depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
She had been placed on anti-depressant
medications along with anti-spasmodic
drugs for her bowel symptoms. She
had side affects from some of
the drug medications and felt that her overall health was continuing to
decline. She was concerned with what she
regarded as signs of premature aging and her inability to maintain any kind of
social life due to the fatigue.
Her history included inhalant
allergies to pollens, which drained her further in the Spring
and Fall seasons. She reported that the
fatigue got worse soon after eating certain foods (milk products and citrus
fruit) as did her headaches, but the cravings for these foods were very strong
and the patient felt, therefore, that she needed them. Standard blood chemistry, thyroid profile,
and CBC were within normal limits. A
series of Chiropractic adjustments had proven beneficial with the headache
symptoms, but the headaches returned if the adjustments were not given at least
two to three times per week. The patient
did not feel that the adjustments were getting to the source of her problems.
Lab tests
A nutritional analysis was done on the patient including being tested for both IgE (immediate type) and IgG4 (delayed type) food
allergies. Results showed the patient to
have severe IgE allergies to both cow's milk
and citrus fruit (the foods she craved), as well as a number of delayed type
allergies.
Treatment & Outcome
The removal of these food items from the diet, combined with a food rotation
program resulted in elimination of the patient's irritable bowel syndrome, the
headaches, and significant improvements in both the fatigue and depression. The patient reported that she was able to
resume an active social life and experienced an increased zest for living. As her
digestion improved and energy levels increased, others noted that she also took
on a more youthful appearance.
Discussion
Craving the foods we are allergic to is
a commonly observed clinical phenomenon.
The patients own observation of how quickly some of her symptoms
appeared after ingesting certain foods strongly suggests an IgE
type reaction. Headaches, depression,
and bowel problems are all frequent accompaniments to patients with Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome as are other symptoms such as fibromyalgia and arthritis. Because allergic reactions to foods can
affect so many body systems in such diverse ways, identification of food
allergic responses, such as the case above, may result in significant
improvement not only in chronic fatigue syndromes, but in resolving other
chronic health conditions as well.
Dr. Paul
Goldberg is a Chiropractic Physician and a graduate of The University of Texas
Medical Center, Graduate School of Public Health where he earned a Masters of
Public Health Degree focusing in Chronic Disease Control. He holds Diplomate
Status with the American Clinical Board of Nutrition and is the Director of The
Goldberg Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia where he has had an active clinical
practice since 1983. For twenty-three years, he served as a Professor of
Clinical Nutrition and Gastroenterology at
Further
information, related articles, and links can be found at www.goldbergclinic.com, or you may
contact Dr. Goldberg directly via email drpaulgoldberg@hotmail.com or at
either of his clinics:
Goldberg Clinic
Goldberg Clinic
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© Humber Parkerson Clinic 2006
December 2006 issue of The
Highest Level
