The Treatment of Modern Western - Biblio.nhat-nam.ru

16CHRONIC FATIGUE IMMUNEDEFICIENCY SYNDROMEChronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome (CFIDS) is currentlyused in the United States to describe a disabling and poorlyunderstood multisystem illness. This syndrome is also calledchronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and, colloquially, “yuppie flu” inthe U.S. and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or post-viralfatigue in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and NewZealand. This is a constellation of neurological, neuromuscular,and immunological abnormalities combined with cognitiveimpairments, disabling fatigue, and recurrent bouts of flu-like illnesswhich can be either short and mild or prolonged andextremely debilitating. While its etiology is unknown, viral infectionis strongly suspected, with 85% of sufferers experiencing aninitial acute onset of flu-like symptoms, such as mild fever, sorethroat, tender lymph nodes, and chills, accompanied by extremefatigue after minimal exertion. This is then followed by suchchronic manifestations as myalgia, migrating arthralgias (but nojoint swelling or pain), sleep disorders, headaches, hypo- orhypersensitivities, cognitive disorders, such as spatial disorientationand short-term memory loss, disabling fatigue and malaise,depression, anxiety, irritability, and confusion, fluctuations inweight, and abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Other complaintsinclude muscle fatigue, worsening PMS, blurred vision,tachycardia, paresthesias, dry eyes, dry mouth, cough, nightsweats, skin rashes, and decreased sexual desire. While the incidenceof the above symptoms vary from patient to patient, theincidence of severe, disabling fatigue is 100%. In addition,patients with this condition often have a history of multiple allergies.Early studies indicated that this disease affected a predominanceof women. However, recent studies suggest this may notbe the case. Most patients are between 25-40 years of age.In terms of Western medical diagnosis, there are no absoluteclinical indicators or laboratory tests confirming this diagnosis.It is diagnosed mainly by the patient’s presenting symptoms andhistory and by ruling out all other conditions with similar constellationsof signs and symptoms, such as SLE, RA, and FMS.Some sources lump CFIDS and FMS together. However, webelieve that there are differences between these two conditions.For instance, FMS sufferers experience a much higher and moresignificant incidence of myalgias and arthralgias. In addition,CFIDS sufferers suffer from more recurrent flu-like symptoms,often “catching cold” with every in-coming low pressure system.In all probability, FMS is the more common condition andCFIDS is the rarer condition. It has been estimated that 75% ofthose patients diagnosed with FMS actually have CFIDS.There is no specific Western medical treatment for CFIDS. Itscurrent treatment is based on the management of its symptoms.For sleep disturbances, tricyclic antidepressants, serotonin-uptakeinhibitors, and benzodiazepine and clonazepam are the drugs ofchoice. For headaches, NSAIDs are recommended for tensionheadaches and calcium channel blockers are prescribed formigraines. Muscle-relaxants, such as Flexeril, NSAIDs, and clonazepamare used for arthralgias and myalgias. H-2 blockers suchas Zantac are prescribed for gastro-intestinal symptoms.Candidiasis is treated with ketoconazole (Nizoral) and fluconazole(Diflucan). Fatigue is treated with buproprion (Wellbutrin)and intramuscular injections of vitamin B 12 and/or gamma globulin.For depression, antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac)are prescribed. In addition, various immunomodulating andantiviral agents are sometimes prescribed experimentally.CHINESE DISEASE CATEGORIZATION: The main,over-riding complaint of this condition is fatigue. Therefore,it is categorized as xu lao, vacuity taxation, in Chinese medicine.As with FMS above, each of its major accompanyingsymptoms is also typically its own traditional disease inChinese medicine. For instance, swollen, tender cervicallymphnodes are categorized as luo li, scrofula, while lowgradefever is fa re, literally “emission of heat.”DISEASE CAUSES: External contraction of the six environmentalexcesses, internal damage by the seven affects,unregulated eating and drinking, iatrogenesis, and aging