Acupuncture & Massage BLOG

CDC LAUNCHES CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

The CDC Friday launched the first national campaign on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), designed to increase awareness among the public of the disease affecting an estimated 1 million Americans. Previously not considered a legitimate physiological disorder, the cause of CFS remains unknown and is possibly a common endpoint of disease resulting from multiple causes. “We are committed to improving awareness that this is a real disease,” says Julie Gerberding, M.D., director of the CDC.

Up to 80 percent of people with chronic fatigue do not know they have it. Women are four times as likely to be affected as men, commonly within the age group between 40 and 59 years of age, according to the CDC. Symptoms include unexplained prolonged fatigue lasting six months or longer combined with muscle and joint pain, headaches, cognitive impairment, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, post-exertional fatigue, and unrefreshing sleep.

There is no diagnostic test or biomarker to identify the disease, making diagnosis difficult. CFS shares symptoms with many other diseases, and diagnosis must be made on an exclusionary basis, first ruling out diseases with similar symptoms, including fibromyalgia, chronic Lyme disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, primary sleep disorders, and chronic mononucleosis. No two CFS patients have the exactly the same symptom set, which previously contributed to the belief that the disease could be due to a psychological disorder. “While the evidence is not definitive, it goes against long-held notions that chronic fatigue syndrome is a figment of patients’ imaginations,” says Anthony Komaroff, M.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Because there is no known cure, there is no defined therapy. Treatment is aimed at symptom relief and improved function through prevention of overexertion, reduced stress, dietary restrictions, stretching, and nutritional supplementation. Alternative therapies recommended for CFS include acupuncture for pain management, massage therapy, and stretching and movement therapies (tai chi, yoga). For more information, visit the new CFS website, www.cdc.gov/cfs, which provides educational tools for patients and health care professionals.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. It can be used as long as credit is attributed to the author by including the following section :

“Written by Rev. Dr. Richard Browne

http://www.amcollege.edu

http://www.acupuncturistmiami.com”

Democrats look to reform healthcare after the elections.

After the demise of President Bill Clinton’s plan for universal coverage, Senator Waxman said he concluded that “the health care system can be fundamentally changed only when there’s strong public support for a specific proposal.” Democrats will use the next two years to build such support before the 2008 presidential election.

Expecting to gain seats in Congress, Democrats are drafting an ambitious health care agenda to carry out their campaign promises with legislation to lower drug costs for older Americans, provide more money for children’s health insurance and expand research using embryonic stem cells.

For 12 years, House Democrats have felt powerless to shape the health care agenda. Now they sense a major opportunity. They are not only using health care as an issue in the midterm elections, but also plan to use it to set the stage for the 2008 presidential campaign.

In Ohio, the Democratic candidate for the Senate, Representative Sherrod Brown, repeatedly points out that the number of uninsured has increased by more than five million since President George W. Bush took office.

In a television commercial, Representative John Sweeney, a four-term Republican from upstate New York, boasted that he has “come through for every hospital in this part of New York - every one.” Senator Lincoln Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, and Representative Deborah Pryce, Republican of Ohio, boasted that they split with Bush and voted for research using embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem cell research has been a defining issue in Senate races in Arizona, Maryland and Minnesota. Republicans are not ceding those issues to Democrats.

On Capitol Hill, the Democratic agenda faces three significant constraints: fiscal reality, industry resistance and Bush.

Let us pray that they will also take this opportunity to pass Rep.Hinchey’s bill for Acupuncture coverage. The Federal Acupuncture Act has been tossed around since 1994.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. It can be used as long as credit is attributed to the author by including the following section :

“Written by Rev. Dr. Richard Browne

http://www.amcollege.edu

http://www.acupuncturistmiami.com”