Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by fatigue, neurologic symptoms, including headaches, brain fog, mood disorders, and motor dysfunction. Millions of people in the U.S. suffer from CFS. An estimated three to six million patients in the US are affected by fibromyalgia (FMS). Spect scans of those with CFS have found that the majority have over 5 times more areas of regional brain damage and reduced blood flow in the cerebral cortex area of the brain than controls. The majority studied were also found to have increased Th2 inflammatory cytokine activity and a blunted DHEA response curve to I.V. ATCH indicative of hypothalamic/adrenal deficiency such as relative glucocorticoid deficiency.
CFS and fibromyalgia patients have also been found to commonly have abnormal enzymatic processes that affect the sodium-potassium ATPase energy channels, which appear to be a major factor in the condition and for which mercury is a known cause. This also has been found to result in inflammatory processes that cause muscle tissue damage and result in higher levels of urinary excretion of creatine, choline, and glycine in CFS, and higher levels of excretion of choline, taurine, citrate, and trimethyl amine oxide in FM. Supplementation of creatine has been found to result in improved muscle mitochondrial function in such patients. FM is further characterized by muscle and fibrous tissue pain, and its prevalence has been estimated at greater than 7% in women aged 60-79 years and 3.4% for all women. A Swedish study found that in one county, 11.6% of women over 35 surveyed had symptoms of fibromyalgia, while 5.5% of men reported such symptoms. A study found that for a group of patients that had both CFS and FM, all had high homocysteine levels, a marker of inflammation. Other factors in CFS and fibromyalgia include oxidative stress, metal sensitivity, adrenal fatigue, autoimmunity, organic acid imbalances, food allergies, digestive malabsorption of essential nutrients, along with overgrowth of intestinal yeasts, bacteria, or parasites. Research suggests that as many as 75% of individuals with fibromyalgia have bacterial overgrowth in the small bowel. Clinical experience has found that the pathogen overgrowths cannot be fully eliminated without detoxification of mercury and toxic metals which facilitate the pathogen overgrowths. Tests also found mercury accumulation in the limbic system and muscle tissues of a sample of fibromyalgia patients’ tests, and significant improvement after dental revision to replace amalgam fillings and deal with toxic root-canal teeth and cavitations.
Factors other than metals that can be involved in chronic fatigue include drug side effects, estrogenic chemicals, chronic stress related adrenal fatigue, hypothyroidism, and poor diet, although toxic metals and other toxics can be factors in hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. Drugs known to reduce thryroid and adrenal function include birth control pills, hormone replacement drugs, statins, blood pressure medications, anti-histamines, migraine medications, muscle relaxers, pain meds, evista, tamoxifen, tri-cyclic antidepressants, etc.
Birth control pills and HR drugs deplete essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B, vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, and tyrosine. Statins and blood pressure medications can damage the liver and deplete the essential enzyme CoQ10, causing cardiovascular problems and fatigue. Large numbers have obesity and fatigue related to insufficient exercise and poor diets with too much sweets, sodas, high glycemic starches, low fiber, etc. The main factors determining whether chronic conditions are induced by metals appear to be exposure and genetic susceptibility, which determines individuals’ immune sensitivity and ability to detoxify metals. Inherited defects in detoxification of environmental chemicals may promote toxicity and fatigue in CFS. Very low levels of exposure have been found to seriously affect relatively large groups of individuals who are immune sensitive to toxic metals, or have an inability to detoxify metals due to deficient sulfoxidation or metallothionein function or other inhibited enzymatic processes related to detoxification or excretion of metals.
A study involving 930 fatigued patients saw more than half (62%) test positive for metal allergy. The majority of those who went on to remove the offending metal reported substantial health improvements. When metal particles enter the body (through any number of sources, including dental amalgam fillings) they bind with proteins. This happens to everyone, hypersensitive or not. With hypersensitive people, the new structure is falsely identified by the immune system as a foreign invader. The white blood cells, or lymphocytes, go into attack mode. The activated immune system will up-regulate the activity of certain brain structures (hypothalamus) and adrenal glands. The brain perceives a warning about danger and prepares for defense against the invader. This stress mode will last as long as the inflammation process is fueled by toxic metals, which have synergistic effects. This will result in fatigue while the attack is being carried out by the lymphocytes. When antibodies are produced to attack the protein, the condition becomes far more serious—possibly leading to neuropsychiatric disorders. For those with chronic conditions, fatigue regardless of the underlying disease is primarily associated with hypersensitivity to inorganic and organic mercury, nickel, and gold.