Facing and Fighting Fatigue: A Practical Approach

By Benjamin H. Natelson

Book Overview

We all know what it is to be exhausted: fatigue seems to be a normal part of human experience when we are overactive, have physical or emotional problems, face stress, or suffer from insomnia. Some of us, in fact, suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, an illness characterized by pervasive fatigue that produces significant disability and lasts more than six months. In this important book, an eminent specialist in fatigue disorders-a physician who is sensitive and empathic to patients' complaints-discusses all kinds of fatigue problems, explaining what fatigue is, what causes it, how to combat it, and what patients should know when consulting a doctor about symptoms. The book offers valuable advice on: - how to improve your sleep; - ways to find understanding and sympa thetic doctors; - self-help techniques to manage stress (the role of exercise, relaxation, and coaches); - the best medicines and ancillary techniques used by expert physicians to treat severe fatiguing illness - the efficacy of alternative medicines; - ways for those with severe and chronic fatigue to cope with their own illness; - and more.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300074018
• ISBN13: 9780300074017
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Best patient-oriented book I've seen on the subject

A new book on fatiguing illness is off the presses, with surprisingly *little* fanfare. I *highly* recommend this book to anyone interested in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS,) its diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment and all other diseases that have fatigue as a major symptom.Dr. Natelson is a professor of neurosciences at University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey Medical School and director of the New Jersey Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Center. He is also a principle investigator of one of two federally funded CFS Cooperative Research Centers, along with being the medical director of the Gulf War Research Center of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in East Orange, New Jersey.Aside from his excellent medical credentials, Dr. Natelson's presentation of what is known and not known about fatiguing illness in general and CFS in particular comes across loud and clear as ONE WHO KNOWS. This man *understands* He CARES. In the early chapters, he does an excellent job of examining all the definitions, various terminology, and strengths and weaknesses of various research approaches.Dr. Natelson looks at fatigue, weariness, neurasthenia, functional illness, and other fatiguing illnesses or reasons for fatigue that must be ruled out before the diagnosis of CFS is conferred. He does this in a non-jargonistic, careful, patient and easy-to-read manner. The chapters and topics are logically arranged and flow easily, and most importantly, he is not judgmental about any of the causes of fatigue.He addresses those who have been exhausted all their lives, saying that this represents one extreme, just as the over-energetic represent another.Dr. Natelson does an excellent job in discussing the medical causes of fatigue. He looks at chronic infection in general, then specifically as in AIDS, Lyme disease (fully recognizing the difficulties with lab tests and proper diagnosis in this disease), and tuberculosis. He looks at sleep disorders, again progressing from gen! eral to sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome.He has quite a good outline on MS can be diagnosed, and the similar but distinctly different diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. For MS, he says: "How does a physician make the diagnosis of MS in a patient who has not had repeated neurolgical problems separated from one another by periods of normalcy?" a frequent question. He goes on to state that the MRI becomes a diagnostic tool -- if the lesions are specific, in the "right" places and in the "right" pattern, then that "strongly suggests" MS.But, he goes on to explicate the MRI abnormalities seen in CFS patients: Of 52 patients he studied, nine had the "tiny abnormalities" (commonly called UBOs) that were not specific enough to diagnose MS. Some time later he got in touch with 8; of those 8, three of them had doctors who had dropped the CFS diagnosis, but only two had a pattern of symptoms that pointed to MS. He postulates that patients with severe and chronic fatigue who

Easy to read, informative CFS book

I can't say I found the latest research to be very encouraging, but it helps to know where we stand. I've been ill with CFS for 2 years and a patient of Dr. Natelson for a year. The book accurately represents his approach and attitude toward his patients. I particularly like how he clearly differentiates between CFS, depression, and other fatiguing illnesses. It's very heartening (and easier to get well) when a doctor tells you that you really are sick and no, it's not all in your head.