Sunday, June 14, 2009

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Part II

When I read the article in GVA: "Bewezen: chronische vermoeidheid is geen ingebeelde ziekte", I straight away thought about my own experience with this condition: in short, I eliminated gluten out of my diet and the symptoms of CFS went away. So my first thought when I had read the article was that gluten were responsible for high levels of H2S as mentioned in the article (or see my previous blog).

They are but not as I thought they were. I discovered through visiting many webpages on this subject that sulfate containing amino acids were on the basis of H2S production so I thought that breads were probably supplying this... but in fact most vegetables and meats do. So I got confused... as apparently there wasn't a link... but as I said gluten is however partly responsable.

The problem situates itself in the fact that Sulfate in normal conditions is taken up by the blood stream in the bowels... only if the gut lining is inflamed or damaged this process is slowed down and bacteria get to it first. The bacteria have now access to more Sulfate to convert into Hydrogen Sulfate causing a hightened production... a bit of the stuff is healthy (regulates blood presure, body temperature etc) but "trop is te veel..." and then it becomes toxic and has an negative efect on the cells (It forms a complex bond with iron in the mitochondrial cytochrome enzymes, thereby blocking oxygen from binding and stopping cellular respiration causing fatigue etc)

Inflamation of the gut mucosa or worse, damaged lining of the gut through the auto immune disease Coeliacie are caused by gluten... these conditions prevent nutrients and sulfate to be easily absorbed resulting in bacteria having a party ...

Have a look at some coeliac and gluten intolerance info websites and you'll see that these conditions and CFS have many similar symptoms... My wild guess is that CFS can be ,in some cases if not most, a direct result from gluten related gut problems.

Catching my drift I hope so :-)

To be continued.

There is hope for people suffering from CFS

There is hope for people suffering of CFS
(Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)

This week I read a promising article, which announced the creation of a simple urine test to see if people suffer from CFS. A breakthrough as this syndrome is considered at least in Belgium as a psychosomatic condition and not a neurological one… CFS sufferers are regarded as lazy and not ill. This hopefully changes soon now that professors Kenny de Meulder (VUB) and Chris Roeland discovered that people suffering from CFS have a higher level of Hydrogen Sulfate (H2S) in the urine. H2S has a negative affect on the central nervous system, which has as effects tiredness, all kinds of muscle problems, memory loss, headaches…

The interesting part is that this H2S is caused by an alteration of the gut micro flora by several factors like antibiotic use, stress and diet. I had CFS for several years and I only got rid of it by changing my diet… as soon as I started to eat gluten free (and I was already eating less diary products) the symptoms disappeared.

I think diet is not the only key to overcoming CFS, together with a balancing osteopathy session and in some cases coaching to get a full Body, Mind and Spirit approach I’m sure many people will be helped in improving their own self healing mechanism and overcome the symptoms and eventually CFS.

I will dig a little deeper in the matter very soon and keep you posted.