CHRONIC FATIGUE, CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY, FIBROMYALGIA AND OTHER CHRONIC DISEASES

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis Chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivity and fibromyalgia syndromes (CFS/MCS/FM)—I had all of these at the same time and more. The 36 medical specialists I went to could not help me, and two came so close to killing me that death was a virtual certainty. With life hanging by a thread, I used my knowledge of biochemistry to save my life, and then to learn how to get well and stay well. Amazingly, more than two decades after my healing, people suffering from these multi-system diseases are still unable to obtain the help they need. They suffer needlessly even though the biology of these syndromes is sufficiently well understood to reverse them. Unfortunately, our physicians are hopelessly behind the science, and patients must learn to help themselves. Physicians believe there are thousands of diseases. This results in a system so complex and baffling, they don’t even try to identify and correct the causes of disease. Instead, physicians merely suppress symptoms by using highly toxic chemicals called drugs and a traumatic, destructive process called surgery. Yet what appear to be different diseases are merely different symptoms resulting from similar biological malfunctions. Once you understand that there is only one disease—malfunctioning cells—and only two causes of disease—deficiency and toxicity—the principles for preventing and reversing almost any disease become simple and straightforward. Chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivity, fibromyalgia and many other so called “chronic diseases” are not different diseases at all. They are the result of similar cellular malfunctions manifesting differently in different people because of different genes, diets, toxic exposures, lifestyles, beliefs, emotions and life experiences. Most of us have experienced being sick and getting over it. Chronic diseases are different. They don’t go away. By understanding why diseases become chronic, we can reverse these diseases and get well and stay well. As it turns out, the mechanisms responsible for chronic disease are known. Most chronic diseases begin with some initiating event, some stressor that starts a process that doesn’t turn off. Common bacterial or viral infections are capable of initiating chronic disease. I have seen many people whose chronic condition started after a pregnancy or after having the flu. They feel like they got the flu and never got over it, and in a way, they are right. Physical trauma can also initiate chronic disease. One man I helped developed chemical sensitivity syndrome after falling off a ladder. Chemical exposures are powerful initiators of chronic disease. These can be large accidental exposures or slow bioaccumulation of environmental chemicals. Pesticides, solvents, food additives, heavy metals and other environmental chemicals can all serve to trigger chronic disease. Psychological stress is a huge contributor to chronic disease. Why is it that all the above trigger events achieve the same end—chronic disease? The answer is they all trigger a common biological response, and that response becomes self-perpetuating. All of the above stressors provoke very complex biochemistry, but all you need to know is this: They all result in a flood of free radicals (highly reactive molecules) that damage cells and tissues, causing inflammation. The inflammation becomes self-perpetuating. Virtually all chronic diseases are inflammatory. The presence of free radicals triggers the production of pro-inflammatory chemicals. This generates more free radicals, which then trigger more pro-inflammatory chemicals, resulting in an endless cycle of free-radical production and health-destroying inflammation in the body. Once this happens, your illness is permanent— unless you do something to interrupt the cycle. Chronic disease is rampant in our society because modern medicine’s treatment of disease does nothing to stop this cycle. In fact, medicine’s treatments with toxic drugs, surgery and radiation only make things worse by generating more free radicals and creating more disease. To be healed, this destructive cycle free-radical generation and inflammation must be down regulated. To stop this inflammatory cycle, you must stop eating inflammatory foods and take therapeutic amounts of anti-inflammatory nutrients. Inflammatory foods such as the Big Four (sugar, white flour, supermarket oils and dairy/excess animal protein) must be avoided. Antiinflammatory nutrients including vitamins A, B12, C, and E, omega-3 fatty acids, CoQ10, curcumin, quercitin, selenium and magnesium must be supplemented. Processed foods must be avoided as these are low in nutrition and contain inflammatory chemicals such as artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors, preservatives and glutamates. Identify and stay away from allergens. Many people have hidden allergies to common foods such as wheat, dairy, corn, peanuts and soy. Each allergic reaction creates free radicals. Stress is a powerful free-radical generator; daily meditation is recommended. The digestive system must be normalized, as a malfunctioning system generates free-radicals. Reversing chronic inflammatory diseases is possible, but it takes dedication to doing what is necessary. A diet rich in fresh, organic plant foods is required. This non-inflammatory diet must then be supplemented with large quantities of anti-inflammatory nutrients to interrupt the inflammatory cycle and shut it down. Vitamin C should be taken to bowel tolerance. The most powerful program I know of consists of Beyond Health’s Comprehensive Kit along with the CFS/MCS/FM Support Kit. The complexities of human biology are almost incomprehensible. However, once you understand the simple one-disease concept, this knowledge can be used to prevent and reverse almost any disease, including chronic inflammatory diseases such as CFS, MCS, and FM. Indeed, the knowledge presented in this article helped me and countless others to get well and stay well. Raymond Francis is an M.I.T.-trained scientist, author of Never Be Sick Again, host of the Beyond Health Show, and an internationally recognized leader in the emerging field of optimal health maintenance. Reprinted with permission from: Beyond Health® News Subscriptions: Call 800-250-3063 website: http://www.beyondhealth.com email: [email protected] Copyright 2008, Beyond Health