by Rich Carson
March 27, 2007
Several prominent ME-CFS researchers have questioned the role mercury plays in causing this disease. As you know, mercury is a deadly poison, and overexposure can have horrible health consequences. More and more of the stuff is getting into our food, primarily from the burning of coal. Coal is high in mercury, and the more of it that is burned, the more mercury goes into the upper atmosphere, where it eventually ends up in our oceans and water supply. Microalgae - the tiny green micro plants found in every body of water - absorb the mercury, and the animals that feed off them concentrate the stuff all the way up the food chain.
Would you like to know how much mercury you ingest from your diet? Take a look at http://www.gotmercury.org/english/advanced.htm to get the numbers in a blink of an eye with their cool calculator.
ME-CFS and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) seem to go hand in hand, and new research is uncovering some interesting findings. In a fascinating study recently presented by Dr. Kenny De Meirleir, 45% of ME-CFS sufferers had a condition known as fructose intolerance. This is a condition where the body does not effectively absorb this common sugar, and this can result in IBS, bacterial overgrowth, and leaky gut syndrome.
Leaky gut syndrome is an inducer of low grade systemic inflammation, which can cause all the biological abnormalities observed in ME-CFS. Dr. De Meirleir is getting good results in his fructose-sensitive patients by having them observe a fructose modified diet. ME-CFS patients with frequent digestive complaints should consider keeping their eyes on this research. Our editorial staff will do the same, so look for more information from ProHealth and ImmuneSupport.com soon on the relationship between ME-CFS and IBS, fructose (and lactose) sensitivity, and leaky gut syndrome.
I hope you are enjoying a lovely Spring, and I wish you a symptom free day.
Warm regards,
Rich Carson
CFS Patient and ProHealth Founder
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