Hildreth on Health: Miseries of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia

Is this misery a wake-up call? Why is it so popular and why does it have a tendency to get worse as we get older, and why does it have a tendency to affect the female more than the male?

It is obvious that both are very real.

I have always believed that no patient, consciously or unconsciously, was putting this on for reason of some needed gain mentally, emotionally or physically. We know, and it is obvious, that we are existing in a physical body that was made anatomically, physiologically and biochemically for a time long before our 20th century environmental existence.

Let’s define the two different health challenges. Chronic fatigue syndrome is defined as debilitating fatigue and associated symptoms lasting at least six months, primarily affecting women. Fibromyalgia is defined as an ongoing chronic state of tendon and muscle aches and pains of sudden exacerbation, particularly with certain movements or activity, followed by moderate modest remissions but never completely gone. Clinically, this is a symptomatic condition someplace between osteoarthritis and just general sore muscles like one might experience after excess exercise.

Most general blood tests and X-rays will show minimal if any gross changes. Some of the associated symptoms of chronic fatigue may be unexplained, persistent or relapsing fatigue that is not a result of ongoing exertion, not alleviated by rest, and resulting in substantial reduction in previous levels of occupation, social or personal activity. This many times is associated with impaired short-term memory or concentration. Many times this is associated with gradual weight gain and changes in skin, hair and nails, and mild to moderate depression.

The fibromyalgia will express multiple capsular tendon and muscle aches and pains which may be severe at times with acute muscular spasms. There will be multiple reproducible tender points. Fatigue secondary to pain and soreness may be experienced. Chronic headache and insomnia are not uncommon. All of this may be associated with an irritable bowel syndrome. Environmental and barometric changes may play a role. Dizziness and general stiffness, particularly of the neck, is not uncommon.

The causes of dysfunction related to chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are very complex and many times non-traceable test-wise and controversial.

This is where our orthodox symptom-oriented medicine fails miserably. We are actually treating the symptoms and if we do this long enough the underlying cause will correct itself and go away. Well, in both of these diseases, that is not the case. To make the symptoms go away, we must correct the underlying cause which is causing the cellular dysfunction that is expressed in over- or under-cellular dysfunction.

Areas of concern in chronic fatigue that may be examined along with others are: first, a systemic internal cellular imbalance secondary to a local or systemic chronic hypoxia (which will be explained more later); second, a systemic hormonal imbalance which may include one or more of the 50+ hormones that aid in controlling internal metabolic cellular functions; and, third, internal cellular metabolic nutrition.

Any one of these alterations can influence brain and emotional stability which will complicate the overall expression of fatigue. Chronic hypoxia is a deficiency in cellular oxygen supply either systemically on a local level. Oxygen is utilized in the cells to produce energy but possibly more importantly to aid in controlling the toxic oxidative byproducts of cellular energy production.

The byproducts secondary to energy production are very destructive to intracellular structures in a free radical way.

All of the free radicals produced by cellular metabolism are neutralized by antioxidants that are produced within the cells and by antioxidants from nutrition.

Any malfunction in this process secondary to inadequate nutritional requirements and suppressed local intracellular oxygen will result in inadequate energy production and accelerated accumulation of free radical activity with intracellular destruction and the development of mutant DNA strands and cancer potential. All of this may lead to increased fatigue.

How altered systemic hormonal balance may affect general fatigue and the intricate role of a balanced intracellular nutritional state can play a role in chronic fatigue will be discussed in depth during the next session of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

It is all very real and very well-substantiated.

Much can be done to alleviate the problems. As you may assume, many of the probable causes of fibromyalgia are considerably different than chronic fatigue, although there are some areas of overlap. Much of the underlying causes of fibromyalgia center around immune dysfunction, probably secondary to anatomical overload and cellular nutrition.

Probably much of the actual pain of fibromyalgia is secondary to multiple focal areas of inflammation at the attachment of bone to tendon or ligaments. This will tend to be more pronounced in areas of greatest

musculoskeletal stress. That is why fibromyalgia can be relieved at times with anti-inflammatories; however, usually it is on temporary basis because the underlying cause of the autoimmune dysfunction has not been corrected.

The fibromyalgia is a systemic problem that many times will be reflected only in areas of musculoskeletal overload. This may be secondary to old areas of trauma from an injury or accident, occupational, lifestyle habits and/or weight. The immune dysfunction may be in the form of an autoimmune disease. This causes hyper- or a hypo-immune dysfunction. The immune overload and hyper-inflammatory state that I was referring to earlier may be secondary to a chronic secondary infection someplace in the body. Food allergies are another area to pursue. Environmental toxins, even heavy metals, may be involved. The secret is to find the foreign protein or substance that the immune system is building antibodies against and creating a war. Many times, we have to build up the immune system with an improved nutritional state to help strengthen and stabilize the immune system.

More on chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia next time, and then treatment programs for each.Why are we so complicated?

Contact Green Valley Dr. DeWall J. Hildreth at 625-1101 or cnhcgv@yahoo.com. Dr. Hildreth specializes in hormone balancing and musclo-skeletal degeneration. He practices with Continental Natural Health Clinic at 210 W. Continental Rd., Suite 130. His column appears biweekly in the Green Valley News.