"Foiling Fatigue: Can We Do It?"
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AnonymousJune 7, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Many of us have to deal with chronic fatigue and it’s been discussed on this forum many times. Last night I watched a very interesting program on the Research Channel by Dr. Lynn Gerber entitled “Foiling fatigue: can we do it?” She is the director of Mason’s Center for the Study of Chronic Illness and Disability at the Mason University and has directed a lot of her efforts towards researching fatigue including the connection between chronic fatigue and chronic diseases involving inflammation. Gerber, a physician board-certified in internal medicine, rheumatology and physical medicine and rehabilitation, served as chief of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. Her clinical expertise includes rehabilitation of patients with rheumatic diseases and cancer, management of children with musculoskeletal syndromes, as well as foot and ankle management.”
He are some of the highlights of the presentation:
[B]Objective:[/B]
[LIST]
[*]define fatigue and place it in clinical contect
[*]report on research
[*]present treatment options to better manage fatigue
[/LIST][B]Her presentation focuses on Pathological Fatigue which has the following characteristics:[/B]
[LIST]
[*]Lasts at least several months
[*]not relieved by rest
[*]often cannot identify the cause
[*]difficult to treat
[*]interferes with daily life and causes distress
[*]frequently associated with mood changes, concentration and changes in sleep patterns
[/LIST][B]Following are the classifications:[/B]
[B][I]1. peripheral fatigue[/I][/B]
[INDENT]neuromuscular
exercise induced[/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]energy production is impaired
energy utilization is inefficient[/INDENT][/INDENT][B][I]2. central fatigue[/I][/B]
[INDENT]mediated by the central nervous system
exercise independent, independent of disease severity
dysregulation of the neuroendocrine system[/INDENT][B]She lists’s conditions frequently associated with pathological fatigue:[/B]
[LIST=1]
[*]Inflammatory diseases
[INDENT]rheumatoid arthritis[/INDENT]
[*]neurological diseases
[INDENT]multiple sclerosis[/INDENT]
[*]psychiatric disease
[INDENT]depression[/INDENT]
[*]Cancer
[*]undetermined etiology
[INDENT]CFS, fibromyalgia[/INDENT]
[*]Infections
[INDENT]continuing antibody reactions
immune regulation or dysregulation[/INDENT]
[*]metabolic and endocrine disorders
[INDENT]diabetes mellitus[/INDENT][/LIST]She does not mention GBS or CIDP but we can easily see how they fit in here.
She goes on to explain the cellular processes involved in muscle fatigue, its biochemistry as well as contributors.
I will stop here. If you have a DSL or cable Internet connection, you can watch the presentation on your computer. Unfortunately, the slides are very difficult to read. Please, be aware that much of the presentation is rather technical/clinical.
[COLOR=”Navy”]http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=24692&fID=2823[/COLOR]
It probably won’t work well with a dial-up connection. If you’re interested I’d be happy to make a copy of the DVD I created. Just send me an e-mail with your address. I’m sure doing this is okay since anybody can download the video file and create their own DVD provided they have the required software to do it. I already have 4 extra copies so don’t hesitate.
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