European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Yuppie flu depressing debilitating by Gerri Kobren the Baltimore sunt he fatigue conies suddenly overwhelming is victim. I was so tired one person says i could t get out of Bod to Brush my  it hangs on this strange loss of Energy passing the six month limit that separates a Sharl Lerm problem from a chronic disability and bringing with it a Host of other physical and neurological problems and it changes me. Sometimes it seems to come out of the Blue. More Olton it s he Long term aftermath of a bout with what should have been a Brief illness. I had a bad Case of mononucleosis in College in 1974. And just never seemed to fully recover recalls Barry sleight a Northern Virginia resident who has lobbied Congress for recognition and medical benefits for sufferers of what is called Chi Only fall Gua  in the 1980s it got worse he says. I was tired All the time and had severe debilitating headaches a whole Range of gastrointestinal problems weird skin rashes problems with balance problems Wilh motor  to now is Able 10 work Only part time. I go sick in 1979," says Marc Iverson 36, of Charlotte . I had thu like symptoms with sudden fatigue muscle weakness difficulty swallowing. I seemed to get better but Only to about 80 or 85 percent of the Way i was. Then in 1982,1 got really Stock at first the symptoms were like mononucleosis and then like multiple sclerosis. I was also tested Lor myasthenia Gravis and Lou Gehrig s disease the less showed nothing. Iverson dragged along without a diagnosis until 19b6, when he recognized his symptoms in a newspaper article he Loo has chronic fatigue syndrome. Everybody i know who has it Gol sick for a week and then never got better agrees a 32-year-old Baltimore Man who lost his vigor and some of his ability to remember new facts during an episode of what was diagnosed As hepatitis five years ago. I was out of work or four years he says now i work three Days a week and slay in bed until z pm. The other four Days trying to regain my strength. La s a Lack of Energy. It s like my food does t get processed my Muscles Are All of but i Don t have the Energy to move  this Man too has chronic fatigue syndrome. Under different titles chronic fatigue has probably been around Tor a very Long Lime. Some experts believe it s related to the exhaustion doctors called neurasthenia 100 years ago in this Century we be blamed chronic fatigue on environmental allergies or tired blood or Tow blood sugar. We be called it chronic mononucleosis or chronic Epstein Barr virus or Yuppie  last March a panel of medical experts decided chronic fatigue syndrome was a Botler title Tor this condition of disabling tiredness. However there remains no known cause or cure. Ii was once thought to Stem from the Epstein Barr virus which causes mononucleosis but hat s now considered an unreliable indicator of chronic fatigue syndrome. Many people who have antibodies to Epstein Barr showing that their immune systems have geared up against it do not have other symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome namely the fatigue. Moreover chronic of Ligue sufferers often have antibodies to a lot of different viruses among them the newly discovered human herpes virus 6, which May or May not turn out to be the culprit there also is not even a medical lest other than those that Rule out All other causes thai can Nail Down a diagnosis of chronic fatigue. Known As a syndrome a collection of symptoms rather than a definite disease it sometimes disappears As mysteriously As it arrived. It also seems sometimes to recur. No one knows How Many people Hove it or have had in or How Many Are dragging around undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Whatever it is though it does not seem to be contagious although it is known to appear in clusters. Or. Paul Cheney now living in Charlotte. . Saw some of the first reported cases in 1934 at incline Village near Lake Yahoo Nev. Since then. 174 chronic fatigue sufferers have been identified in that area. Charlotte Home base Lor the chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction association has a lol of cases Loo. Other hot  or. Cheney says include South Florida. San Francisco the los Angeles Basin Norl Nern new Jersey and upstate new York. "1 think it s More in the Public Eye than in the physician s office says or. Andrew Mayrer. Chief of infectious diseases at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Ii probably is a real problem with a real Aetiology cause thai we Haven t been Able to figure out yet but my impression is that it is not an epidemic  in studies of people with chronic fatigue depression has sometimes been cited As the primary cause. But depression does not cause the whole Constellation of symptoms seen in people with chronic fatigue syndrome Cheney says. This is not just depression he says. Depression is treatable and depression ends. This is not As easily treated. And in Doos no  besides patients and their advocates Point out chronic fatigue can also cause depression. Finding a Label for an illness is essential to a sufferer Cheney says. Not knowing he says can cause depression and anxiety too. And when All clues Are nol tracked Down other fatiguing diseases can go untreated. In patients who have come to him thinking they had chronic fatigue syndrome he says he has found cancer acquired immune deficiency syndrome and joint and muscle diseases. Although there s no treatment for the syndrome some of the associated symptoms can be relieved with anti virus drugs anti depressants and in Soma cases with dietary supplementation or manipulation of the immune system. But the most Basic strategy he says is to teach the patients to adjust their lifestyle to reduce stress to rest to find ways to remove those elements that make in worse. I Don t think i cure anybody. I think they get belter or Don t get better because of the fundamental disease process which we do not understand. I feel i help a lit lie bit but i have to ask what Are we really doing " lower cholesterol by diet weight loss instead of drugs by Jay Jorden associated press doctors May be too Quick to prescribe powerful new cholesterol reducing drugs Wilh unknown Long term effects when exercise change of diet or More prove drugs might do As Well specialists say. There is a general suspicion that some of the drugs Hal control cholesterol Are Over prescribed. Whan diet and weight loss alone May suffice said or. James Willerson professor of Medicine and chief of cardiology at the University of Texas southwestern medical school. 11 exercise and diet Don t work in four to six months drugs ranging from the proven like bile acid resins and niacin to the new like Genfi Broil and Lovas Lalin can be useful said or. Wayne Peters an assistant professor at the University of Colorado school of Medicine. Lova statin Lowers the blood s Low density Lipoprotein. Which delivers the cholesterol that builds up in the arteries Gimli Broil increases the Levels of High density Lipoprotein which carries cholesterol away to be destroyed. The two drugs Are so easy to Taka so impressive in their effects on lowering cholesterol that Many physicians Start out with them first which is not an n1h recommendation Peters said recently in Dallas. The National institutes of he ail has designated Cole Siipola Choles Laramine and nicotine la acid or Niadna. As drugs of first Choice. The first two Are bile acid resins which have been been available for More than 20 years. The two newer drugs can also be considered said Peters an assistant professor of Medicine and prove Lativa Medicine and biometrics who addresses doctors groups and Consumers on cholesterol lowering drugs. But most cholesterol experts think they should Only be considered after patients Are using niacin and bile resins in Small  Lova statin is very effective in lowering the Bdl component he said it is quite Well tolerated a Pill like Gimli Brill. But the longest it was used in humans is five years. We have really no idea what the Long term safety record will be practising physicians Are Over prescribing that Medicine without giving patients an informed Choice. Do you want a Little inconvenience bul we know it s Safe or would you rather choose convenience and a question Mark As far As Lov Slatin safety " Lova statin was approved in 1987 by the food and drug administration. Ii can be very effective Willerson said. Lov Stalin is a very important medication but the newer cholesterol lighting drugs Are very powerful and it is important to be aware of what the options  i think there Are some problems in that area said or. Donald Hunninghake director of the University of Minnesota heart disease prevention clinic and author of the National cholesterol education program s adult drug therapy guidelines. These come from Many different areas one is patients Are not Given adequate time or instruction on diet. That is related to the fact that physicians Are not familiar with dietary therapy Yel. The other is that Many physicians Are not real familiar Wilh the bile add resins and Nicot inic acid and do not have a True feel Lor incidence of Side effects and the number of patients who can tolerate these  tuesday september 20, 19s8 the stars and stripes Page 17