Holiday Shopping With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Do you have fibromylagia and/or chronic fatigue syndrome and simply dread going out for holiday shopping? All that walking, trying to remember what you need, what you have, who you need to buy for – it can end up being a nightmare unless you plan ahead. With careful planning, you can manage your shopping trips and have a better experience. I’ve found 10 steps to help you survive holiday shopping with fibromaylgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. [...]

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B.C. researchers develop virtual reality for pain sufferers

There has been a new breakthrough for chronic pain sufferers and it seems that a virtual walk in the park may be just what the doctor ordered for relief. Simon Fraser University associate professor Diane Gromala claims research shows that a 3-D walk in the forest has the same power to help people manage chronic pain, sometimes with even more positive results than traditional methods of treatment and medications such as morphine. [...]

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Australia may consider chronic pain as a disease

Some recent news out of Australia seems to be a positive step in recognizing those suffering with chronic pain.  Australia may soon become the first country in the world to recognize chronic pain as a disease in its own right. This move of recognition will lend more credibility to the sufferers and potentially [...]

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You Know You Have a Chronic Illness When…

Let’s face it. . . chronic illness can have its humorous moments if we look for them. Feel free to add yours below in the comments. We’d love to giggle along with you! [...]

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Virus discovery called breakthrough in fight against chronic fatigue syndrome

Traces of a retrovirus similar to HIV are found in most patients with this mysterious disorder – chronic fatigue syndrome. It could be an opportunistic virus, but researchers want further testing to see if it actually causes the syndrome.

In what may prove to be the first significant major breakthrough in the fight against chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers reported on Thursday that they had found traces of a virus in the vast majority of affected patients. This same virus has previously been identified in at least a quarter of prostate tumors, particularly those that are very aggressive, and has also been linked to certain types of cancers of the blood.

It remains possible that the virus, known as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV, is a so-called passenger virus that is simply infecting patients whose immune systems have been suppressed by other causes. But the new findings were sufficiently alarming that the National Cancer Institute called together a group of experts in August to consider its potential effect on public health.

“We are in the very early days,” said Stuart Le Grice, director of the National Cancer Institute’s Center of Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Cancer Virology, who organized the meeting but was not involved in the new study. “The data need to be confirmed and repeated. . . . We need to know that it is a cause and not just a passenger. In a sense, we are at the same stage as we were when HIV was first discovered. Hopefully, we can take advantage of what we learned from working with it.”

Le Grice emphasized, however, that traces of the virus had been found in blood samples preserved for 25 years. “This is not associated with a new and spreading disease. We are not on the verge of an epidemic,” he said.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, which affects at least 1 million Americans and more than 17 million people worldwide, is characterized by debilitating fatigue, chronic pain and depression, as well as other symptoms. Many doctors have argued that it is not a real disorder because there have previously been no biochemical markers that characterize it. The only effective treatments are behavioral changes and antidepressants, and they are of limited benefit. » Continue reading Virus discovery called breakthrough in fight against chronic fatigue syndrome »

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