From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Subject: Re: Armour Thyroid Therapy: Detoxifying properties?
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative

In <Frrsbeuler-ya02408000R1610971537120001@news.earthlink.net>
Frrsbeuler@earthlink(X).net (Robert Mantz, Jr) writes:

>Harris,
>
>Do you have a CFS hypothesis?  What does your treatment routine include for
>your patients?


   I don't have a hypothesis of my own, though I've read all the books
about the limbic hypothesis and the viral hypothesis and and low
adrenal hypothesis and whatnot.

   I don't know what causes it, so I treat symptomatically.  If my
patients have low blood pressure we try a little Florinef.  If they
have low 24 hour cortisols, we try hyrodcortisone.  SSRI's get a trial
on everyone.  People who seem to have psychomotor retardation get a
trial of Ritalin or T3.  Following Goldberg I've tried Aricept and
nicotene patches.  Sometime combinations of these on the same patient.

   Some people are helped and think I'm a genius.  Some get some
relief.  Some never get any relief no matter what we do.  That's life.

                          Steve Harris, M.D.

From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.med.immunology,sci.med.pharmacy,sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: Cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome!
Date: 29 Apr 1998 06:23:59 GMT

In <35469C13.BB729165@ix.netcom.com> "D. Williams"
<davidwms@ix.netcom.com> writes:

>Nitric oxide is a potent vasodilator.  The upregulated production of
this simple gas during immune activation can cause neurally mediated
hypotension and chronic fatigue syndrome!<

   It will be nice if it's that simple, because there are all kinds of
iNOS (inducable nitric oxide synthase) inhibitors coming through animal
research models.  If they work in people they'll make CF people feel a
lot better.  And set them up to get infected by anything.

   Generation of NO. in the brain is connected more to acetylcholine
than anything else, and some people (Goldberg) have suggested that
treatments that raise acetylcholine might decrease brain NO. and help
CF symptoms.  He suggested the old toxic Alzheimer's drug Tacrine.  But
now we have better stuff.  The new drug Aricept.  Acetylcarnitine.
Others in the pipeline.  There are a lot of memory drugs that have a
"cholinergic feel" to them, in that if you take them they give you
muscle stiffness and more saliva.  The classic being nicotene.  But
also vitamin B5, pregnenolone, DMAE, Lucidryl.  Anybody with CF have
experience trying any of this stuff?

                                   Steve Harris, M.D.