ascorbic-acid and Fatigue-Syndrome--Chronic

A tailor-made management plan that includes various combinations of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic therapy for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is important. We present an overview of four aspects of our medical treatment and management for CFS: introduction of our medical management system, summary of our management strategy, non-pharmacologic therapy, and pharmacologic therapy; according to foreign guidelines and the latest studies. The main non-pharmacologic therapies for CFS are rehabilitation and lifestyle guidance. Using a graded exercise therapy, we have constructed a broad management strategy for CFS. Herein we introduce our graded exercise therapy. If the symptoms continue despite careful management of the program by the physician, consultation with a psychiatrist or psychosomatic medicine specialist is necessary.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Exercise Therapy; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Humans; Life Style; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Psychotropic Drugs; Referral and Consultation; Severity of Illness Index; Vitamin B 12

The year 1995 marked the onset of interstitial pneumonia spread in Nagoya, Japan. For the last 9 years, we have been accumulating clinical experience with the disease control using the combination of prophylactic use of anti-biotics and regular practice of megadose vitamin C infusion with either dehydroepiandrosterone-annex or dehydroepiandrosterone-cortisol annex. The purpose of this study is to assess the usefulness of our new treatment system for the control of interstitial pneumonia alias chronic fatigue syndrome. The results obtained are given as follows: i) The long-term maintenance of the above treatment system was effective not only for decreasing the risk for recurrence of active form pneumonia, but also for prevention of malignancy emergence in aged patients with interstitial pneumonia. ii) Evidence is presented to indicate that interstitial pneumonia was associated with increased risk for depression of which the emergence is a candidate subject causally related to the long-term use of glucocorticoid. iii) A patient with both interstitial pneumonia and depression was found to be less responsive to our treatment system. It is suggested that the use of more dehydroepiandrosterone at the sacrifice of cortisol in the infusion annex may be a choice for the control of both interstitial pneumonia and depression. iv) The description of chronic fatigue syndrome as regards the endocrinological, epidemiological and psychiatric characteristics are in good agreement with our experience on patients having interstitial pneumonia, evidence in support of our proposal that there is no convincing reasoning to separate chronic fatigue syndrome from interstitial pneumonia. v) The long-term practice of our treatment system for the control of interstitial pneumonia (an autoimmune disease) was found to suppress the inflammatory process but not the fibrotic process in the long run. vi) A few innovations were made in our treatment system to reduce the risk of bleeding or thrombosis--vascular complications of pneumonia. vii) The merit of our treatment system is to create a new hormonal environment to improve the state of immunodeficiency by use of a non-steroid substance--vitamin C which encounters little resistance from the feedback mechanism of steroid metabolism in the in vivo system.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Ascorbic Acid; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Depression; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Infusions, Intravenous; Lung Diseases, Interstitial; Male; Time Factors

As heat shock proteins (Hsp) protect the cells against the deleterious effects of oxidative stress, we hypothesized that Hsp expression might be reduced in patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) who present an accentuated exercise-induced oxidative stress.. This case-control study compared nine CFS patients to a gender-, age- and weight-matched control group of nine healthy sedentary subjects.. All subjects performed an incremental cycling exercise continued until exhaustion. We measured ventilation and respiratory gas exchange and evoked compound muscle potential (M-wave) recorded from vastus lateralis. Repetitive venous blood sampling allowed measurements of two markers of oxidative stress [thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and reduced ascorbic acid (RAA)], two cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-alpha) and two Hsp (Hsp27 and Hsp70) at rest, during maximal exercise and the 60-min recovery period.. Compared with controls, resting CFS patients had low baseline levels of RAA and Hsp70. Their response to maximal exercise associated (i) M-wave alterations indicating reduced muscle membrane excitability, (ii) early and accentuated TBARS increase accompanying reduced changes in RAA level, (iii) absence of significant increase in IL-6 and TNF-alpha, and (iv) delayed and marked reduction of Hsp27 and Hsp70 variations. The post-exercise increase in TBARS was accentuated in individuals having the lowest variations of Hsp27 and Hsp70.. The response of CFS patients to incremental exercise associates a lengthened and accentuated oxidative stress, which might result from delayed and insufficient Hsp production.

Topics: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Ascorbic Acid; Biomarkers; Case-Control Studies; Cytokines; Electromyography; Exercise; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Female; Heat-Shock Proteins; HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; Humans; Interleukin-6; Linear Models; Male; Oxidative Stress; Pulmonary Gas Exchange; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Because the muscle response to incremental exercise is not well documented in patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), we combined electrophysiological (compound-evoked muscle action potential, M wave), and biochemical (lactic acid production, oxidative stress) measurements to assess any muscle dysfunction in response to a routine cycling exercise.. This case-control study compared 15 CFS patients to a gender-, age- and weight-matched control group (n=11) of healthy subjects.. All subjects performed an incremental cycling exercise continued until exhaustion.. We measured the oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), systemic blood pressure, percutaneous O2 saturation (SpO2), M-wave recording from vastus lateralis, and venous blood sampling allowing measurements of pH (pHv), PO2 (PvO2), lactic acid (LA), and three markers of the oxidative stress (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, TBARS, reduced glutathione, GSH, and ascorbic acid, RAA).. Compared with control, in CFS patients (i) the slope of VO2 versus work load relationship did not differ from control subjects and there was a tendency for an accentuated PvO2 fall at the same exercise intensity, indicating an increased oxygen uptake by the exercising muscles; (ii) the HR and blood pressure responses to exercise did not vary; (iii) the anaerobic pathways were not accentuated; (iv) the exercise-induced oxidative stress was enhanced with early changes in TBARS and RAA and enhanced maximal RAA consumption; and (v) the M-wave duration markedly increased during the recovery period.. The response of CFS patients to incremental exercise associates a lengthened and accentuated oxidative stress together with marked alterations of the muscle membrane excitability. These two objective signs of muscle dysfunction are sufficient to explain muscle pain and postexertional malaise reported by our patients.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Ascorbic Acid; Blood Pressure; Case-Control Studies; Electromyography; Exercise; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Female; Glutathione; Heart Rate; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal; Oxidative Stress; Oxygen Consumption; Potassium; Regression Analysis; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances

Topics: Acylation; Ascorbic Acid; Carnitine; Diet; Erythrocytes; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Female; Food, Fortified; Humans; Magnesium; Minerals; Nutritional Status; Vitamin E; Vitamins; Zinc

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Carnitine; Endocrine System Diseases; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Humans; Killer Cells, Natural; Virus Diseases