Is CFS Caused by Allergic Reactions to Infections?

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's Column

...expert advice on CFS, Fibromyalgia and other Health Topics.

Jacob Teitelbaum MD is Medical Director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers

(www.fibroandfatigue.com). Senior author of the landmark studies "Effective Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia -- a Placebo-controlled Study" & "Effective Treatment of CFS & Fibromyalgia with D-Ribose". Author of the best-selling book "From Fatigued to Fantastic!"(3rd ed-Penguin/Avery Oct 4, 2007) , "Three Steps to Happiness! Healing through Joy", and "Pain Free 1-2-3- A Proven Program to Get YOU Pain Free!" (McGraw Hill, 2006). He does numerous media appearances, including CNN and FOX National News and is a frequent guest on Oprah and Friends with Dr. Oz.. He lives in Kona, Hawaii. Visit his web site at www.Vitality101.com

You can benefit from Dr. Teitelbaum's wisdom and experience by visiting us at The Environmental Illness Resource regularly to read articles from his latest newsletter!

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012:

Is CFS Caused by Allergic Reactions to Infections?

by Jacob Teitelbaum MD

An Intriguing Hypothesis — and NAET May Help!

In an interesting article, Dr. Sarah Myhill (one of my favorite CFS researchers) theorizes that it may not be the bacterial or viral infections themselves causing CFS, but rather an allergic reaction to those infections. This is common in illness. For example, rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis are not caused by the associated infections (which are trivial in those conditions) but rather by the body's excessive response to those infections.

In my March 12, 2012 newsletter, I told you about a new study (funded by our foundation) showing that treating food allergies with NAET dramatically improved function in 23 of 30 autistic children — compared to a control group of 30, where none of the children significantly improved. NAET-related techniques can also decrease excess reactions to infections. (I have personally experienced the symptoms of a cold improving within minutes of being treated with NAET!) And NAET can also successfully treat arthritis.

But there's a trick to using NAET to treat reactions to specific infections: knowing which infection(s) to treat! Another challenge is that NAET doesn't routinely include infections in the list of what it treats, so a practitioner has to specifically consider these infections and muscle test for them. (Muscle testing is very much an art, and not everyone does it well, so it's good to work with an experienced practitioner.)

An intriguing possibility? It may be possible to treat the infections without needing to know the specific infection involved. If so, a simple, low-cost 20-minute treatment could be more effective than 6 months of antibiotics or antivirals! This can be done by muscle testing, using four bodily substances:

Saliva
Blood (a drop collected with the same lancets used for blood sugar fingerstick testing in diabetes)
Stool
Nasal mucus (blow your nose or collect a bit with a cotton swab)

For each of these, a small amount (e.g., a few drops) of the sample is put in a clean, empty glass jar (like a baby food bottle) and taken with you to the NAET visit. The practitioner muscle tests each of the samples. If necessary, each of these four specimens can be treated, one per visit. (However, the basic 10 allergen food groups should have been tested first.) The effects of the blood treatment can be especially powerful.

Though NAET has been very helpful in treating food and other sensitivities in CFS/FMS — and it’s also effective for treating day-to-day infections — we have not really looked at it for treating infections in CFS/FMS. We will be doing this soon. Antiviral medications like Valcyte cost tens of thousands of dollars, and treating secondary bacterial infections can take months or years of antibiotics. Could it be that a simple, 20-minute NAET treatment may have the same or better effect! It's an intriguing thought…

Might it also help those with severe die-off reactions while taking antifungal or other anti-infectious agents?

Stay tuned for more on this. Meanwhile, if you are seeing an NAET (or related) practitioner, ask them to consider this type of testing in their treatment — and then share your experience with us. On this cutting edge of our understanding, we all get to teach each other!

(See Dr. Myhill’s article on allergies to infections at ProHealth.com.)

Used with permission from Dr Jacob Teitelbaum's free newsletters-available at www.Vitality101.com

Learn more from Dr. Teitelbaum's books:

	From Fatigued to Fantastic!: A Proven Program to Regain Vibrant Health, Based on a New Scientific Study Showing Effective Treatment for Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Buy from Amazon.com Buy From Amazon.co.uk
	Pain Free 1-2-3: A Proven Program for Eliminating Chronic Pain Now! Buy from Amazon.com Buy From Amazon.co.uk