Herpes 1 and II Treatment
with Self-Heal Herb
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/
showarticle.cfm/ID/4614/t/CFIDS_FM
05-19-2003

WASHINGTON, DC – May 19, 2003
– A new anti-herpes agent derived from a common herb effectively treats and prevents the disease in animals. Researchers from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia present their data today at the 103rd General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

"Prunella vulgaris [also known as self-heal] is a perennial plant commonly found in China, the British Isles, Europe, and North America. In herbal literature, P. vulgaris has been described as a hot water infusion to treat sores in the mouth and throat, as an astringent for internal and external purposes, as a crude anti-cancer drug, and as a herbal remedy to lower high blood pressure," says Song Lee, one of the researchers on the study.

Lee and his colleagues extracted a lignin-carbohydrate compound from the plant, which was incorporated into a topical cream and tested on mice and guinea pigs with experimental herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infections. Guinea pigs receiving the lignin-carbohydrate complex cream treatment showed a significant reduction in skin lesions compared to those that received no treatment. Mice receiving the lignin-carbohydrate complex cream treatment showed a significant increase in survival rate compared to animals that received no treatment.

"The anti-HSV compound from P. vulgaris is a novel lignin-carbohydrate complex with potent activity against HSV-1 and HSV-2 and has a different anti-herpes mechanism than acyclovir, the current clinical anti-herpes drug," says Lee. "Given the high incidence of herpes infection and the emergence of acyclovir-resistant strains of herpes viruses, the Prunella lignin-carbohydrate complex may prove to be a useful new anti-herpes drug."

UK Issues Guideline for Diagnosis & Management
of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (or Encephalopathy)
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/
showarticle.cfm?id=8284&T=CFIDS_FM&B1=EM090507C
2007-09-05

On August 22, 2007 the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) launched a clinical guideline titled "Chronic fatigue syndrome/Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy) - Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children." In effect, "Doubting doctors are ordered to take ME patients seriously," stated a headline in the London Daily Mail (see "press clips" below), while some patient groups responded with calls for investment in further research to identify more beneficial therapies.

The new guideline was developed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to advise NHS clinicians on the appropriate treatment and care of people with CFS/ME. The guideline and all related resources are publicly available at the CFS/ME website http://www.nice.org.uk/CG53. These materials include:

1. For professionals
   - The full guideline, appendixes citing supporting references, a “quick reference guide,” and links to tools for supporting local implementation and patient education.

   The clearly written guideline includes general principles of care, presentation, diagnosis (including testing to rule out other disorders), general patient management strategies, referral to CFS/ME specialist, specialist care, management of setbacks, review and ongoing management, key principles of care for people with severe CFS/ME, and more.
   
   

2. For patients, carers, and the public
   - an educational version including an explanation of CFS/ME, what to expect in their clinical diagnosis and management, and questions to ask. To quote the summary:

   “This guideline is about the care of people with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy), in the NHS in England and Wales. Throughout this booklet we refer to the condition as CFS/ME for short. The booklet explains guidance (advice) from NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). It is written for people with CFS/ME, and parents or carers of people with the condition. It may also be useful for other family members or for anyone with an interest in CFS/ME. The guideline aims to help you understand the care and treatment options that should be available in the NHS.”

All documents can be freely viewed, printed, or downloaded from the NHS site, or you may enquire about ordering hard copies
by e-mail at nice@prolog.uk.com
or by phone at 0870 155 5455

FULL GUIDELINE: 317 pages
Royal College of General Practitioners.

Neglect has arisen from poor understanding of the illness, little epidemiological evidence, negligible study of the group, an inability to access effective care.

A Pragmatic and Practical Approach has been sought.

Healthcare professionals should provide diagnostic and therapeutic options.
Healthcare professionals should strive to develop a supportive and collaborative relationship with the client.

Serological tests (for bacterial or viral infections) should not be carried out unless the history of the individual indicates exposure.

Drug treatment of symptoms is encouraged and reports of CFS-ME conflicts with certain drugs are minimized, while a short list of drug types are to be avoided.

Every 2 to 4 years, new findings are to be considered and incorporated in an updated report. ...

UNDERSTANDING:

• There is no way of managing CFS-ME which helps everyone.
• Healthy meals, possibly small amounts often, starchy.
• Any larger than average amounts of any supplement are discouraged.
• Advice is given about establishing a normal sleep-wake pattern.
• Rest breaks during the day are best limited to 30 minutes.
• Not to be advised to take vigorous or unplanned/unsuppervised exercise.
• A technique of Pacing for activities and rest, is advised.
• Alternative therapies are cautioned against.
• For pain: medication or referral to a pain management clinic.
• Planned regular health reviews should be made by the medical doctor.

COSTING:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Graded Exercise Therapy (GET).
• Population Prevalence is estimated at .2% to .4% with 1/10th diagnosed.
• Both therapies to be offered on a one-to-one basis.
• Up to 141,000 of a population of 47 million.
• Newly diagnosed numbers in the UK are now 20,000 per year.
• Current backlog of diagnosed patients result in a delay of years to treat all.
• Total annual recurrent cost to implement the Guidelines: L 3.7 million.
• Costs include additional training of specialists, projected costs for clinical psychiatrists and physiotherapists.

APPENDIX 1
Literature search with charts and descriptions: 488 pages.

APPENDIX 2
Economic Evidence, literature and sample review: 16 pages.

APPENDIX 3
Clinical Scenarios: Diagnosis, Investigation, Referral, Pharmaceuticals, Behavioural Interventions, Complementary and other Interventions, Questionnaire Results, Final Recommendations: 133 pages.

APPENDIX 4
Background letters, instructions, and forms regarding the questionnaires as sent to medical personnel and CFS-ME volunteer participants: 20 pages.

Virus Identified in 82% of ME/CFS Patients
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm
?id=8337&T=CFIDS_FM&B1=EM091907C
2007-09-19

The big news is that 82% of 165 patients had evidence of chronic enterovirus infection using gastric (stomach) biopsy, compared with only 20% of non-patients. The research, with its statistically significant numbers, was impressive enough to be published in the September issue of the respected Journal of Clinical Pathology.

Enteroviruses are the second most common viral infection in humans next to the common cold, and two notable enteroviruses are polio virus and Coxsackievirus. Infection usually causes asymptomatic gastric and respiratory infection, and the virus has previously been isolated from ME/CFS brain, muscle, and heart tissue.

It is too early to jump on the cause and effect bandwagon, and I am sure many of you remember earlier “breakthroughs” including EBV, CMV, retrovirus, stealth virus, spuma virus, HHV-6 and HHV-7. Nevertheless, it was determined that the virus was causing a chronic, inflammatory condition in the study participants, and it is pretty hard not to be impressed with a positive rate of 82%. Could we finally have a smoking gun?

I do not mean to suggest that the viruses above do not play at least some role in many cases of ME/CFS. In fact I am convinced that HHV-6A plays a major part in a good percentage of cases of ME/CFS. Please visit the website of the respected Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) Foundation for compelling evidence - http://www.hhv-6foundation.org

CFS is associated with chronic
enterovirus infection of the stomach
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/8325
- Source: Journal of Clinical Pathology, online Sep 13, 2007
by John K S Chia and Andrew Y Chia

09-13-2007
http://press.psprings.co.uk/jcp/september/cp50054.pdf

... Since most CFS patients have persistent or intermittent gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, the presence of viral capsid protein 1 (VP1), enterovirus (EV) RNA and culturable virus in the stomach biopsy specimens of patients with CFS was evaluated.

Methods:
165 consecutive patients with CFS underwent upper GI endoscopies and antrum biopsies. Immunoperoxidase staining was performed using EV-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) or a control mAb specific for cytomegalovirus (CMV). RT-PCR ELISA was performed on RNA extracted from paraffin sections or samples preserved in RNA later. Biopsies from normal stomach and other gastric diseases served as controls. 75 samples were cultured for EV.

Results:
135/165 (82%) biopsies stained positive for VP1 within parietal cells, whereas 7/34 (20%) of the controls stained positive (p(0.001). CMV mAb failed to stain any of the biopsy specimens. ...

Conclusion:
Enterovirus VP1, RNA and non-cytopathic viruses were detected in the stomach biopsy specimens of CFS patients with chronic abdominal complaints. A significant subset of CFS patients may have a chronic, disseminated, non-cytolytic form of enteroviral infection, which could be diagnosed by stomach biopsy.

Source:
Journal of Clinical Pathology. 2007;online Sep 13:1–6.
Published online ahead of print. Doi: 10.1136/jcp.2007.050054,
by Chia JKS, Chia AY. EV Med Research, Lomita, California, USA.
[E-mail: evmed@sbcglobal.net ]

This research is supported in part by an unrestricted research grant from Gilead Sciences. The paper was presented in part at the 8th international IACFS conference on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and other related illnesses, January 2007, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

from the original pdf version ..

... gastroenteroviruses are acid and bile resistant ...
... 50% of the first 200 CFS patients had raised neutralizing antibody titres for 10 of the top 20 enteriruses isolated in the USA from 1970 to 2005. An estimated 80-90% of our 1400 CFS patients have recurring gastrointestinal symptoms ...

... high prevalence of enterovirus infections throughout the year, affecting as many as 50 million Americans per year or 17 to 25% of the population. Viral shedding in stool can persist for weeks after acute infections.

... the persistence of the virus years later ... developed after another enterovirus infection ... there are more than 70 human enteroviruses ... persistent enterovirus infections have been associated with chronic myocarditis, type 1 diabetes and neuromuscular diseases. ..