Product Description
A self-help guide for persons immune-compromised (HIV, Chronic Fatigue syndrome, Candidiasis and other conditions). News insights on immune function, diet, colon cleansing and restoring intestinal health, herbs, bio-oxidative therapies and immune-based therapies. Covers the relationship between low body temperature and its effects on suppressing immune function. Protocols included to normalize body temperature, glutathione levels and maximize immune function for health and well being. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Immune Function and HIV/AIDS
If you want to know how to strengthen your immune system, this is the book for you. Every possible means of immune strengthening is looked into and test cases are included.

An excellent presentation of immune dysfunction
I have read and reread Mark Konlee's book and have only good things to say about it. It inspires hope and encourages those challanged by AIDS and Chronic Fatigue to take control of their lives. He gives tips on choosing the appropriate physician, one with an interest in the immune system, rather than those physicians who view AIDS solely from a "hit it and hit it hard" point of view. As a Registered Nurse I view this book as very impowering and long needed. I highly recommend it not only to those persons who fail to respond to drug cocktails, but also those who do respond. Immune restoration is vital in both instances. ... Read more

Product Description
In the beginning, it was called the Yuppie Flu and Epstein-Barr Syndrome. One doctor calls it "AIDS minor."

12 million Americans have been stricken by it, yet few of us know the truth about the mysterious ailment that attacks the immune system and leaves its victims totally incapacitated.

Neenyah Ostrom, author of What Really Killed Gilda Radner? Frontline Reports on the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic probes all the facts and answers questions about today's most misunderstood syndrome:

* What causes it?
* Is it contagious?
* Is it a form of AIDS?
* Can it lead to cancer?
* Can children get it?
* What is the government doing about it?
* And much more

Simple. Readable. Understandable. In depth. 50 Things You Should Know About the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic gives you a quick but thorough look at a disease that threatens us all.

Exclusive update for this edition.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Awful book
This book is appalling - gives no proper evidence but instead ludicrous facts that are insensitive and inaccurate about CFS.

Read at your own risk...
This book contains SOME interesting, appropriate and correct information. However, the majority of it is out-dated and alarmist by nature. Based on my recent research, CFIDS is not the same thing as AIDS (although it appears she was hoping for more research funding if the association stuck), and it can not be caught from someone like the common cold. And I've never read that you can give it to your pet as is suggested in this book! I would not give this book to my family or friends to help them understand CFIDS.

You had better know about this condition BEFORE you venture into this book.

A good idea that's out-of-date
Neenyah Ostrom's "50 Things You Should Know abouy the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic" contains some good information; unfortunately, even with the Update section, it's badly out-of-date. A number of the statements made as fact have since been disproven or contradicted by research done in the 10 years since the books publication, and a number the blanket statements made are just plain wrong. This book could needlessly frighten someone just diagnosed with CFS. A similar book(1-2 page sections, easy reading) with updated information and more careful wording would be helpful to the general public and to those of us with CFS(I've had it for 5 years now); there are many good books available with more accurate & helpful information. My favorite is Dr. David Bell's "The Doctor's Guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"; while the section on possible causes is dated, the rest of the book is excellent: thoughtful, accurate, and helpful.

Making SENSE of the fibroyalgia/chronic fatigue epidemic
I found the author made perfect sense -- although I've heard criticisms that she is rather "radical."

She draws parallels between Fibromyalgia (FMS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and AIDS by discussingthe scientific evidence.There are common chemical markers in the blood,etc.

Fascinating reading! ... Read more

Product Description
Written from firsthand experience about the hardships, frustrations, and uncertainties facing sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), this book is a useful and optimistic guide to a little-understood and frequently trivialized disease. Often labeled as being "all in the mind" or "the yuppie flu," CFS is a devastating condition that afflicts increasing numbers of people throughout the world. The current thoughts on the causes, symptoms, and diagnosis of CFS are discussed, as are strategies for coping with the illness and treating its symptoms. Also provided are case histories that give insight into others' experiences, as well as suggestions for diet, exercise, meditation, and alternative medicine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not for people with M.E.
This is a book about what seems to be a mild case of a post-viral fatigue syndrome, which the author refers to as CFS.

This is not a book about M.E. and this book will not be useful in any way to anyone who actually has the neurological disease Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

M.E. and CFS are not the same, contrary to popular opinion and in fact there simply is no distinct disease known as 'CFS' - if only the author had been aware of this before writing this book may have been so very different, because the author very obviously means well and could have really been a wonderful advocate...as is, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a complex, debilitating disorder, yet few current scientific biomedical books are available on the subject. The nonspecific symptoms, lack of diagnostic tests, and uncertainty as to the cause or causes of CFS make the disease that much more baffling. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Biological Approach represents a monumental step in the journey to a unified understanding of CFS and establishes a scientific basis for treatment. The book provides a rare treatise on current state of the art with respect to the worldwide scientifically documented basis of CFS and acknowledges the many as yet undiscovered or undefined pathogenic mechanisms involved in the production of symptoms. The authors, reflecting their clinical and basic research backgrounds, outline future research imperatives and direct clinicians toward appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.Because of the multifactorial aspects of the disease, the book addresses various fields of the biomedical sciences, such as protein biochemistry, virology, and pharmacology. Many recent, biological discoveries help us better understand the physiology of this disease and improve the specificity of its diagnosis by laboratory tests. This book summarizes these advances and discusses insights that support CFS as a distinct and specific physical disease. Overall, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Biological Approach provides a firm foundation understanding of CFS, opening the way for better diagnosis and design of new therapies ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Finally, a Medical Textbook on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Just reading the research citations in this book is both informative and should give hope to anyone with CFS--now known as myalgic encephalopathy(ME)/CFS.Although I haven't been able to work in decades, luckily a have a master's degree in an area of health science, which enabled me to learn the ways and means of interpreting medical information.While this text is clearly written for the medical profession, I think if you have any kind of background at the collegiate level in health science, ie, biology, physiology, anatomy, etc. you should be able to glean a lot of useful information from this book.I'm sure the price is prohibitive for most of those with ME/CFS on disability, but if there's any way you can get your hands on a copy, I wholeheartedly recommend it.If not that, at least recommend it to your doctor(s).

Could launch medical studies that bring answers!
This book is clearly not written for the patient, but for the scientist. Especially the skeptic.It is an intriguing compilation, with scientific evidences, of numerous paths for future study.It certainly answers the question "is there any evidence this illness even exists?" and provides grist for future exploration.I'm very grateful to the author. There's HOPE!

Might launch 1000 medical studies!
I'm not an M.D., but a struggling and strapped patient.So it wasn't written for me at all. Yet what is here is like a gift to me and all the others burdened by this horrible disabling disease. There are many chapters, each giving detailed information on different hypotheses, with real experimental findings by serious scientists, and with suggestions as to their possible significance.It is a collection of evidences, in terms that researchers, not patients, can utilize.In it are seeds, questions, and puzzles for future investigations.That much I can understand quite well.

I imagine that every day, there are scientists and medical researchers deciding on their next experimental undertaking.This book is sure to pique the interest of some who, without it, might have considered Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a field of futility.

I'm very grateful to the authors and publishers of this book. I'm outraged at the person who gave it a 1/5 rating, unread!!! Do you not want as many copies of this to get out into the world as possible? Not to be read by us, the patients, but by the next generation of doctors, pharmacologists, and medical researchers.Those for whom we all hope, holding our breath.

This book is worth ten other CFS books, in advancing the field of knowledge.I think this is likely to be the original source of much future research and could lead to some long-overdue answers.March on! ... Read more

Product Description
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) remains one of the most controversial illnesses, both in terms of its causes, and the best ways to treat the illness. For years, sufferers have had to deal with scepticism from their families, employers, and even health care professionals. The vast amount of conflicting advice that has been published up to now has served only to confuse sufferers, and professionals, even more. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Facts presents a compassionate guide to this illness, providing sufferers and their families, with practical advice, based solely on scientific evidence. It is unique in being written by both a sufferer and a physician, both of whom have had extensive experience of talking to, and helping, patients. Included in the book is a detailed guide to self-help, written from a patient's perspective, but evidence-based. The book also deals with a number of special issues, advising on how to choose therapies and therapists, and how to deal with CFS in children. The book additionally includes an overview of the history of the illness, looking at the nature and causes of CFS, and the opportunities for the future. The book will be invaluable for sufferers from CFS, their friends and families, and the numerous health professionals who come into contact with sufferers from this illness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

CFS (the BS)
This propaganda piece does have some more accurate facts than some of the more atrociously unscientific publications on ME, so I was considering giving it 2 stars, but then I thought this was akin to "letting the terrorists win." And let's be clear, terrorists like Michael Sharpe, Simon Wesseley, Bill Reeves, etc., have caused much more suffering than the 9/11 terrorists.They need to be immediately put out on the street, have the embarassingly inaccurate UK, Oxford and Reeves definitions burned and all governments and researchers adopt the Canadian ME definition and have research funding increased 100 - 1,000 fold and have it put toward actual science, not the current garbage supported by the US and UK governments.
For the real story on ME, read the amazing Osler's Web: Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic

Completely useless
This is a worthless little book that contains very few facts, in spite of being part of "The Facts" series. While it is imperative that with a disease as complex and poorly understood as CFS, authors muster as much data as possible, the authors of this book appear to have done very little scientific research.The sections on testing, causes, prevalence, and prognosis fail to cite a single study, ignoring the plethora of articles that have appeared in medical journals over the past three decades documenting immune system abnormalities, nervous system defects, cellular dysfunction, viral reactivation and hypoxia. Instead the authors rely on vague generalizations couched in language geared to an eight-year-old. The area of greatest concern to people with CFS--treatments--was positively skeletal, devoting as little as a single sentence to some of the more widely used medications. In sharp contrast, chapter after chapter was devoted to "psychosocial treatments" not one of which has ever been shown effective for treating CFS.

The underlying problem with this book is that the principal author is a psychologist who clearly has little, if any, experience treating CFS outside of recommending that patients avoid "negative thinking." The bulk of this book is comprised of chapters on depression, anxiety, panic attacks, managing relationships, mood, etc. For a person who is too exhausted to lift a hairbrush "managing your thinking" is about as helpful as an exorcism. If you are a person with CFS, there is a good chance that after reading the section about your "happiness diary" you may be tempted to do a little exorcism of your own.

Best CFS/ME book!
This is THE BEST CFS/ME book by far!!! If you have this, or know someone who does, get this book!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a useful guide to CFS
this is a very informative book written in a non-technical way. journalists (i am a freelance writer) will find lots of interesting background material here - the symptoms of CFS, various natural treatmentoptions as well as worldwide resources for further research. one veryhelpful feature in this book is the personal experience ofCFS patients,and this i found enlightening.i highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Advances in Epidemiologic, Clinical, and Basic Science Research highlights the presentations and issues discussed at the Fourth Annual International Conference of the American Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). You will explore the strengths and weaknesses of current case definitions of CFS and how these can be improved. Also, you will examine how to distinguish CFS from similiar ailments such as fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivity. This book puts different therapeutic modalities to the test, and addresses the neurological and psychiatric manifestations associated with CFS. ... Read more

Product Description
(Haworth Medical Press)Univ. of Miami, FL. Text provides an explanation of therapeutic tools used in chronic fatigue syndrome research. Topics include herbal medicine, vaccines, fibromyalgia, Gulf War syndrome, and the immune army. For patients and healthcare professionals. Hardcover, softcover available. DNLM: Fatigue, Syndrome, Chronic--immunology. ... Read more

Product Description

A guide for practitioners, scientists, and patients, Clinical Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome provides an insightful overview of current clinical management of CFS and guidelines for dealing with the disease and its compounding issues. It also provides, especially for patients, an objective framework in which they can approach the confusing psychological and physical ramifications of the disease so that they may sort through possibly misleading information on current treatments.

CFS has been the focus of an increasing number of research investigators seeking to unravel the enigmatic interrelationship of immunologic, neurologic, endocrinologic, and psychologic abnormalities associated with this debilitating disorder. Because many practical issues have been underestimated by the medical community, and considerable misinformation exists regarding the appropriate evaluation and management of the CFS patient, the American Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (AACFS) held its first clinical conference to address this problem, the results of which are presented in this book. Each chapter, based on material presented at the October 1994 conference has been completely updated and revised during a peer review process, making Clinical Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a useful and up-to-date guide for practitioners and scientists, as well as patients.

Despite the potential of nervous system functional assessments, the diagnosis of CFS continues to be a major problem because a consensus diagnostic tool is lacking, and the monitoring of the disorder is based primarily on patient report. Moreover, dealing with the financial aspects of CFS continues to be a major problem for patients, so professionals with experience dealing with insurance companies explored this issue, as well as ways in which CFS could be considered in a broader perspective of health care, particularly focusing on governmental involvement.

The chapters provide an insightful overview of current clinical management of patients and guidelines for dealing with the disease and its complicating issues. General topics of relevance covered in the book's chapters include

Product Description
Examine the role the Eta-1/Op gene may play in uncovering the cause of CFS!

Current research indicates that chronic fatigue syndrome may have an infectious etiology and that genetic factors might determine a body's ability to overcome or fall victim to a chronic infection. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Genes, and Infection: The Eta-1/Op Paradigm focuses on the Early T lymphocyte activation-1/osteopontin gene (Eta-1/Op), a cytokine that offers natural resistance to bacteria, and viruses that may play a role in the suspected link between microbial infections and CFS. Written by one of the leading experts in the field, the book details the historical, clinical, and scientific aspects of Eta-1/Op and its relationship to infectious agents such as Rickettsia.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Genes, and Infection: The Eta-1/Op Paradigm centers on research triggered by the high percentage of CFS patients who associate the onset of the disorder with an apparently infectious illness. This unique book addresses the role of Eta-1/Op as part of a genetic program of cellular immunity that may help in the etiopathogenesis and treatment of CFS. It also presents information on the structure and regulation of the Eta-1/Op gene and protein, and the biological activities of Eta-1/Op in nonimmunological bodily systems and pathologies.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Genes, and Infection: The Eta-1/Op Paradigm includes vital information on the Eta-1/Op gene's relationship to:

flaviviruses and herpesviruses
mycobacterial infections and HIV infection
autoimmune disease
cell-cell communication
cellular motility
the regulation of phosphate and calcium metabolism
and much more!

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Genes, and Infection: The Eta-1/Op Paradigm is an important addition to the continuing effort to unravel the pathogenesis of this crippling disorder. The book is an essential resource for healthcare professionals working with CFS patients and for the biomedical community as a whole. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good summary of the research on osteopontin, but not particularly relevant to ME/CFS
The title of Patarca-Montero's book is somewhat misleading, because there is, to date, no evidence that ME/CFS is associated with a decreased expression of Eta-1/Op, better known as osteopontin. (A far more accurate title would have been: The Eta-1/Op Paradigm: Genes, Infection and the Immune System.) Osteopontin is a cytokine that promotes cellular immunity, the part of the immune system that attacks viruses and other organisms that invade host cells. Patarca's theory is that due to the shift from cellular (Th1) to humoral (Th2) immunity in ME/CFS (a shift that allows for viral re-activation) there is sufficient reason to believe osteopontin might play an important role in the pathogenesis of ME/CFS.

Patarca-Montero cites an impressive number of studies concerning osteopontin, detailing its myriad effects on bone, skin, joint, renal, cardiac, GI, pulmonary, nervous and auditory systems. In spite of its near omnipresence in the human body, osteopontin is primarily expressed in the gut. (This should not come as a surprise given the gut's pivotal role in immune system activity.) Osteopontin, because of its ability to activate inflammatory T-cells, and due to its primary site of expression, has been implicated in inflammatory conditions of the gut, such as Crohn's disease and IBD. It is also expressed in cancers of the bowel and stomach, leading some researchers to suggest that elevated osteopontin levels may serve as a reliable indicator for these conditions. The (unanswered) question is: How do the functions of osteopontin apply to CFS?

In science, there is a world of difference between a hypothesis that is supported by a little evidence, and a hypothesis that is supported by none. While this book would certainly serve as a valuable resource for anyone researching osteopontin, it has little application for ME/CFS. There are no studies linking this cytokine with CFS symptoms or with its cause. It can't be used as a marker, because it is ubiquitous. Nor is it useful as a treatment, as many ME/CFS patients already suffer from comorbid inflammatory conditions. (Besides, the idea that you can "shift" the immune system from one type to another is highly problematic, as the two systems overlap.) I'm afraid that when it comes to CFS, Patarca's Eta-1/Op paradigm, like so many theories about this complex illness, is a dead end. ... Read more

Product Description
The Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, Canada. An examination of the testimonials of four teenage sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome, offering a survival guide for patients and parents and insight for health care professionals. Hardcover, softcover also available. ... Read more

Product Description
(Whurr Publishers) South Bank Univ., London, UK. Discusses this illness and its management by offering a detailed exploration of the role of the occupational therapist in facilitating the CFS patient's recovery. Gives an overview of the etiology, treatment, and evidence-based management of CFS. Emphasizes intervention. For clinicians and medical students. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Your source for inducing iatrogenic morbidity!
Regurgitates uncritically the anti-scientific positions of the Wessley school of psychiatry.These views have been throughly discredited and shown to cause tremendous iatrogenic morbidity. Shameful. ... Read more

Product Description
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is now a recognized major and international medical concern. Neglected for many years because of its puzzling wide range of symptoms and inability to be “slotted” into any single mainstream medical discipline, CFS has gained government, academic, and public attention.

In this innovative book, Dr. Jay Goldstein provides a medical narrative of an “evolving theory” of how the symptoms of CFS may develop through dysfunction of numerous physiological pathways. He describes the biologic basis of these assumptions, and, based on an analysis of basic medical principles, leads the reader to logical conclusions. In addition, Dr. Goldstein reveals a wealth of clinical experience by describing successes and failures of various therapies and discusses the reasons for the outcomes. Dr. Goldstein’s private practice is devoted to patients who fit the profile of a CFS sufferer. As a result, his extensive clinical experience has given him a unique hands-on perspective not readily available to most researchers.

Chronic Fatigue Syndromes: The Limbic Hypothesis carefully reviews the extant research literature in each chapter. Although Dr. Goldstein cautions that this model should be viewed only as a PROMISING FOUNDATION for future research, no less than six peer reviewers, all leading researchers and clinicians in the CFS field, have endorsed the direction of Dr. Goldstein’s bold proposition. The breadth and scope of this book is perhaps best summarized by Paul Cheney, MD, PhD, a national leader in the field:

“Despite its long history, the medical establishment with its great advances in biotechnology has been largely unable to crack the basic pathophysiology of the chronic fatigue syndrome. . . . Dr. Goldstein’s new book takes us to a place few people know well, and describes a plausible mechanism of injury to the deep brain which could explain every symptom seen in [patients with] chronic fatigue syndrome. . . . It is the unifying power of his hypothesis, together with emerging scientific support for this view, that makes this book an important one to read for both the patient with CFS, as well as the practitioner and medical scientist who attempt to understand it.” ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Outdated and only marginally useful
The foreword of Tuning the Brain recommends reading this (and Betrayal by the Brain) first, but I consider it optional and of historical interest only. (Betrayal is still mandatory reading.) All of the immune system stuff turned out to be irrelevant, and you'll have to unlearn some concepts that are heavily modified or even contradicted in the later volumes. It's kind-of like chemistry books written before the discovery of the neutron that theorize about nuclear electrons: wrong, but a fun way to learn about the evolution of our scientific understanding. I recommend reading it last if at all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Exposes the War on Science
Details the very underreported war on science by a small cadre of British psychiatrists.Simon Wessely has made a cottage industry of kicking the disabled when they're down including military veterans. Nicely exposes this emperor of charlatans' complete lack of clothes.Also see Prof. Malcolm Hooper's excellent works, posted free on the internet. ... Read more

Product Description
Much of the current literature describes fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other related syndromes in terms of anecdotes and sales pitches without benefit of medical fact.Dr. Duclos is a practicing internal medicine physician who treats patients with these conditions every day and has found striking similarities among these conditions.

He uses the latest scientific research to support his theory that the problem common to these disorders lies in the central nervous system.He describes the underlying disease process in clear terms for non-medical professionals and offers hope for treatment.“For years,” Dr. Duclos says, “patients have been told that their symptoms are all psychological.Now we know better.” ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Too little too late
This book got off to a great start and confirmed much of what I already knew about my own "somatoneural dysfunction."In rather technical language, Dr. Duclos describes several chronic illnesses in great detail and makes a great case for their interrelatedness.So far so good BUT throughout, he makes references like "more on this later".In the last two chapters suddenly I discover there is supposedly a part two with the conclusions and suggestions for treatment!No part two is available online in this or other bookstores!I feel horribly cheated!But maybe this is due to my "hypersensitivity!"Be wary of this book unless you just want to know about the disorders, not how to feel better! ... Read more