Treating Chronic Fatigue With Chinese Medicine

As many as 2% of Australians experience chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) each year.

CFS is a severe, long-lasting type of fatigue. There are no known disorders explaining it in a western medical framework and therefore are no viable western medical treatment for CFS.

How is CFS diagnosed? 

Unexplained fatigue plus the following factors are used as a guide:

• Severe fatigue for six months or more
• Fatigue that isn’t due to exercise or improved by rest
• Reduced ability to perform daily activities
• Sore throat, low grade fever, and enlarged painful lymph nodes
• Muscle, abdominal, multi-joint pain
• New onset and severity of headaches
• Difficultly sleeping and un-refreshing sleep
• Unease lasting more than 24 hours after exercise
• Difficulty concentrating

Blood tests for thyroid stimulating hormone, rheumatoid factor, hepatitis, HIV and others can be done but are unspecific for Chronic fatigue. 

Western Medical View

The cause of CFS is unknown in a Western medical framework.

This might be because there are no tests available that prove a patient suffers from CFS.

Some theories include viral infections (entero-viruses, shingles, immunisations, Lyme disease, Ross river virus) and other infectious diseases.

These are considered because many patients link their fatigue to these types of infections.

Allergic reactions, low levels of antibodies, poor circulation through the brain, poor diet, genetic factors and more have been proposed but none have been proven. 

Treatment in Western medicine is unspecific and symptomatic.

Antidepressants, physical rehab, aerobic exercise and avoiding prolonged rest have limited effect.

Chinese Medical View

There are several known causes of symptoms of CFS in Chinese medicine.

Identifying an underlying cause is possible through patient history, physical exam and diagnosis of the radial pulse.

The most common cause of CFS are external pathogenic factors or EPF’s for short.

After a person becomes infected with a pathogen, there are three possible outcomes:

1. A pathogen is cleared completely from the body
2. The pathogen moves deeper
3. The pathogen appears cleared, but residual pathogens form.

Three Common causes of CFS

1. Residual pathogenic factors are considered when a pathogen infects the body but it isn’t completely cleared. Instead it lingers or moves deeper. Symptoms change but the infection persists. This predisposes the patient to further infections in the future. This is possible because residual pathogens obstruct the diffusing function of the Lung. It also impairs the function of the Spleen and Stomach, both crucial to our immune system. 
2. Latent heat is considered when a pathogen enters the body without causing any symptoms. Instead it incubates inside the body. When it emerges to the surface, it causes a person to feel tired with heavy limbs, thirst, and difficulty sleeping.
3. Weak immune/thyroid function. 

Once a diagnosis is identified, a treatment plan is mapped out which may include Chinese herbal medicine or acupuncture.

6 Factors Lay The Foundation For CFS 

1. Excess mental work combined with irregular diet. If such a lifestyle is prolonged, it weakens the function of the Kidney and Spleen. When these organs are weak, it forms the foundation for latent heat or residual pathogens to develop post infection. Not resting during an infection is also a predisposing factor.

2. Poor eating habits such as eating when stressed, eating and working at the same time, eating in a hurry, eating late at night and eating too much sweet, greasy food. This encourages the formation of “phlegm”. Under these conditions, when a patient suffers infection, residual pathogens are more likely to form. 

3. Excess sex affects men more than women due to the loss of sperm. This weakens a man’s constitution and forms a foundation for latent heat and residual pathogenic factors to develop after infection. 

4. Excess physical work weaken the Spleen and Liver. Over time the constitution is impaired. Such a deficiency forms the background in which latent heat or residual pathogenic factors are formed.

5. Antibiotics kill bacteria but don’t clear phlegm. Antibiotics are often the cause of residual pathogens because they weaken the Stomach and Spleen. This leads to the formation of residual phlegm (another cause of CFS).
6. Immunisations inject pathogens directly into the nutritive and blood level to produce an artificial immune response. In most cases this has no negative consequences. In some cases it creates residual heat at the nutritive and blood level, particularly in adults preparing for overseas travel.

David L. Edwards is an author, Chinese medicine physician and licensed acupuncturist. He is the author of The Body Fat Formula and The Pocketbook guide to Chinese medicine and painless cures (available on amazon). David is the creator of Barefoot Health and Wellness health programs.

Apply for a free assessment here or calling 9462 0585 to book with David

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References

1. Porter, Kaplan (editors). The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 19th ed. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Whitehouse Station, N.J. pg. 3442-3443, 2011.
2. The Practice of Chinese medicine, second edition. Giovanni Maciocia. Churchill Livingstone Elsevier. Pg. 1133, 1136, 1145, 1146, 1148

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