01/02/2005

Monthly Boost February 2005

Dear readers, Welcome already to the second Monthly Boost of 2005. They do say ‘time goes by even faster as we age’, but it seems to be flying Concorde style!

This month’s topic is M.E. (known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). It is also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Whatever, this condition is called by your doctor it is definitely being diagnosed with greater fervour and speed in the 21st century. The symptoms of this condition can vary from persistent flu-like symptoms, general pain, digestive complaints, headaches, fevers, neurological problems including depression, sleep disorders through to being bed-ridden.

From clinical experience it ALWAYS seems to be triggered by some kind of a stressor. That stressor may be a viral infection such as glandular fever (also known as mononucleosis), Epstein Barr virus, a new job, a visit to the dentist, parasitic infections, mould, pesticide overload, new carpet in the home…the list is endless and varies from individual to individual.

Most M.E. sufferers are usually recommended a ‘holiday’. I can assure you that M.E. is not a ‘holiday deficient syndrome’. Some of the symptoms maybe alleviated by going on holiday and this AGAIN can be due to a number of reasons: no pressure from work, good weather (dry heat;can slow down a mould infection hence symptoms), absence of a toxic component which may be present in the home (such as formaldehyde from new carpets!), no mobile phone use..get the picture? It can be a minefield and traditional medicine does not have the time or money to deal with each unique case. Let me share a few case studies:

Wheel-chair bound: I saw a grand-mother at the age of 68 years who was in a wheel-chair for 3 years. She had been diagnosed with M.E. and was told nothing more could be done but if there was any breakthrough with the treatment of M.E. that she would be notified. This grandmother had experienced most of the symptoms mentioned above over the 10 years before she was wheel-chair bound. When she came to see me, the story started to unfold. Most of her symptoms got worse after she retired at which time she got a viral infection that took over 3 months to clear. Since then she has been having mild fevers as well as joint aches and muscle pains to the point where she ended up in a wheel-chair as the pain became unbearable and her energy levels dipped.

In her words, her goal was ‘to be a fabulous grand mother and be able to play with her 2 grand children’. To cut a long story incredibly short (phew!) she is no longer in a wheel-chair and enjoys life free from M.E. What happened?...you ask….when we tested her, she came up positive for a specific mould that she picked up whilst in Singapore on a post-retirement holiday. We implemented changes into her diet and started to work on clearing the mould. Within 2 weeks of the programme, her aches started to recede, her digestion took some time to improve and she began to feel more energetic. Within 3 months she was out of her wheel-chair and baking cookies for her grand-children and convincing her other off–spring to move back home from Singapore.

It is interesting to mention that traditional medics have observed that a head injury can lead to M.E. Now don’t start to panic, and think ‘oh my, I may get M.E.' due to a fender-bender. If anything this newsletter has probably highlighted that M.E. is often triggered by a series of stressors, not just one. You know the old saying 'the straw that broke the camel's back'.

Fender Bender; Last year a young man, Michael, aged 33yr came to see me after he had been diagnosed with M.E. As a child he was on antibiotics most winters and had taken a lot of time off school being sick, mainly with constant upper respiratory tract infections. He was also bullied at school and labelled 'the sick boy'and suffered emotionally through his ‘teen’ years. Since then he grew up to be a successful lawyer, married and became a father 5 months prior to seeing me and was enjoying life with the odd bout of ‘flu’. He was then involved in a car accident (March 2004) and was not seen by a doctor as he had no noticeable symptoms (pull the other one!).

However, two days after the accident his face came up in spots and a few days after that he ‘caught’ a cold and his health just spiralled downwards. He started getting tingling sensations in his fingers, feet and tongue, he had a sore throat and started getting headaches. Hospital check-ups including a CT scan revealed everything to be ‘normal’ and he was diagnosed with M.E. We carried out a body scan and found high levels of pesticides as well as the steroid dexamethasone.

I later found out that he had been exposed to moths and mould in his childhood home and his father would spray the whole house with a pesticide to clear the pests (….that would explain the ongoing chest infections!) and he was taking dexamethasone to help the breathing whenever he got a heavy chest infection. The weakest points in his body were found to be the chest and liver (using the body scan).

So his diet was addressed and some nutritional supplements and homeopathic remedies were recommended, as well as a visit to a GOOD cranial osteopath. After 9 months of working on building his health and clearing his body of toxins, Michael is now doing exceptionally well and has not had a respiratory infection this winter to date!

To great health!

Khush Mark