Fw: [UK-FMS-GUAI] Fw: [AlfredblasiprotocolFMSCFS] First official death from chronic fatigue syndrome

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> First official death from chronic fatigue syndrome

>

>

> Chronic fatigue syndrome has been given as an official cause of death

> - apparently for the first time in the world.

>

> On Tuesday, coroner Hamilton-Deeley of Brighton and Hove

> Coroners Court, UK, recorded the cause of death of a 32-year-old woman

> as acute aneuric renal failure (failure to produce urine) due to

> dehydration as a result of CFS. The deceased woman, Sophia Mirza, had

> suffered from CFS for six years.

>

> CFS, which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), has a

> variety of devastating symptoms ranging from extreme weakness,

> inability to concentrate and persistent headache. Sufferers can have

> the disease for years, but its cause remains controversial, with

> fiercely opposing views from psychiatrists on one side and

> biologically minded physicians on the other.

>

> The coroner's verdict is a breakthrough for those who argue that CFS

> is a physical condition, possibly with its roots in the immune system.

> Dominic O'Donovan, a neuropathologist at Oldchurch Hospital in

> Romford, UK, who gave evidence at the inquest, said that Sophia's

> spinal cord showed inflammation caused by dorsal root ganglionitis - a

> clear physical manifestation of the disease.

> Overactive immune response

>

> CFS specialist Kerr of St 's, University of London,

> says he is not surprised that inflammation in the spinal cord has been

> found in someone with the disease, as it is known to be associated

> with it. He says that the immune system tends to be over-activated in

> people with CFS and this may underlie the inflammation of the

> neurological tissue.

>

> " People have been reluctant to subscribe to the biological side

> because of the power of the psychiatric lobby, " says Kerr. " Doctors

> are sceptical about the existence of CFS and there is controversy

> about its underlying cause. "

>

> Abhijit Chaudhuri, a consultant neurologist at the Essex Centre of

> Neurological Science who worked with O'Donovan on Sophia's case, says

> the changes to her spinal cord may have resulted in symptoms of

> chronic fatigue.

>

> " Sophia's case sheds light on CFS because there were changes in her

> dorsal ganglia - the gatekeepers to sensation in the brain - and we

> know that fatigue depends on sensory perception, " he says. " What we

> need to understand is what happens that makes fatigue more persistent,

> without there being an obvious systemic disturbance. "

> Rigorous inquest

>

> The inquest was rigorous, Chaudhuri says, and considered all other

> potential causes of death consistent with the post-mortem results,

> such as sleep apnoea and drug use, and rejected them.

>

> The verdict was welcomed by Sophia's mother, Criona , who had to

> fight for recognition that her daughter was physically - rather than

> mentally - ill. Sophia was sectioned for two weeks under the Mental

> Health Act in 2003.

>

> " I'm extremely pleased that CFS/ME was identified on the death

> certificate as one of the primary causes of Sophia's death, " she says,

> " because this can be used to reinforce the need for biomedical

> research into the disease. "

> source.-

>

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9342-first-official-death-from-chronic-fat\

igue-syndrome-.html

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