Who says long duration patients can’t recover? Health Rising’s recent Recovery/Recovering Series continues with – you guessed it – something entirely different. From Efthymio’s artificial intelligence aided recovery story, to vaccine, drug (rapamycin), neuroplasticity + alternative health, cerebral spinal fluid patch, mast cell + recoveries – it goes on and on – the theme has been the many different ways people can recover from these illnesses. Indeed, Flo’s story is different in several ways – the length of her illness (almost 40 years) and the way she finally ended it.&nb ..read more

The Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) Virus may sound exotic but its postviral effects looked all too familiar. A blog on Tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) might not be what you expect on a chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID website. While CCHFV is a major problem in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia it’s not in North America or Europe. A recent study suggests, though, that it may not matter where a bug comes from when it comes to postviral illnesses. Thanks to Kajsa for digging this one up – I never would have seen it otherwise.&nbs ..read more

One of the things I enjoy about the TLC podcast (The TLC Sessions – Living with Long COVID ) from Noreen Jameel and Emily Kate Stephens (besides their English accents) is the short bit in the beginning of their podcasts where they discuss what’s going on with them. There’s something about hearing about the trials and tribulations (and occasional successes) of people with long COVID (them), or any of these diseases, that is surprisingly relieving and heartening. Color changes in the toes, horrific crashes, hair falling out, heart palpitations, pain everywhere, etc. The need for a “shitometer ..read more

Ruhoy and Kaufman take on one of Dr. Ruhoy’s favorite topics – the connective tissues This is the fifth in our series covering two experts as they explore different facets of complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and long COVID in their “Unraveled” Patreon podcast series. This blog covers episode 13 on connective tissues. Join Patreon and watch the episodes, and the dozens of others, by joining Patreon for about $9/month. It’s the best deal in town. Unraveled #1: The “Septad” – a Treatm ..read more

The Long COVID Moonshot proposal recently introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders is something that everyone with a post-infectious disease – and that includes people with long COVID, chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), post-treatment Lyme disease, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and even many people with fibromyalgia should want to succeed. Why? Because if you take away the names, they all look like the same disease. The main symptoms (fatigue, pain, post-exertional malaise, cognitive, and sleep problems are identical. Beyond that, though, even the research findings are simila ..read more

THE GIST The FDA approved 3 drugs in 3 years (Lyrica (Pregabalin) – 2007), Cymbalta (Duloxetine) – 2008, and Savella (Milnacipran) – 2009) to treat fibromyalgia in the U.S. but studies have shown that most people receive modest benefits from them and don’t stick with them. Bringing a drug to market is a tough business. In the past five years or so at least 4 promising drugs (Mirogabalin, Brincidofovir, Synergy, Rituximab) have failed in large-scale studies.  Tonix’s Tomnya drug – which is heading to the FDA in the second half of this year is an updated version of Flexeril a central nerv ..read more

Thanks to Geoff for providing a narration of this blog https://www.healthrising.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/HR-Narration-Geoff-Complement.mp3   The complement cascade – it starts with an antigen (foreign substance) and ends with the membrane attack complex that drills a hole in the invader. The “complement” system doesn’t at first glance sound like much. Its name reflects the fact that, in part, it “complements” the immune system; i.e. it triggers immune cells to attack pathogens and clean up damaged cells. It also, though, torpedoes bacteria by drilling a hole into them, causing th ..read more

DeVita didn’t hold back in this book. This is a wrenching, disturbing blog. It’s putatively about the war on cancer, but it’s really about medicine and all the weirdnesses that goes into fighting a disease. You might think that in cancer – that deadliest of foes – egos would take a second seat, but no – not at all. To provide some relief – the story does end well – but on the way to ending well, we get a good look at the underbelly of what goes on in the medical research and treatment fields at major institutions like the National Institutes of Health and major treatment centers. The sausag ..read more

The multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) is back in the chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) news. Health Rising first reported that Copaxone helped some ME/CFS patients back in 2015, and Jarred Younger included it on his list of possible drugs for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia (FM) anti-neuroinflammation drugs way back in 2014. Ron Davis reported that Copaxone made ME/CFS patients’ cells behave normally during the nanoneedle stress test in 2019. Microglial Inhibiting Drugs, Supplements and Botanicals to Combat Neuroinflammation In “Catalytic Antibodies May Contribute to Demyelinat ..read more

Courtney Craig recovered from ME/CFS/FM using both conventional and integrative medicine. Courtney Craig is something of a rarity. For one, it took her years, and a lot of study and trial and error, but she was able to become, in her words, a very “high-functioning” person with chronic fatigue syndrome/fibromyalgia (ME/CFS/FM). Coming down with ME/CFS/FM at age 16 changed her. As she noted on her website, her “academic and career trajectory was fueled by the constant need to understand and overcome the illness”. To that end, she became one of the few nutritionists focused on the needs of ME ..read more