The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Probiotic effect on chronic fatigue syndrome

    Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden studied the effect of 3 probiotics on fatigue and physical activity in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

    First, the details.

    • 15 patients with CFS were included in the study.
    • They had high fatigue severity scores and high disability scores.
    • They were monitored for 2 weeks, received treatment with probiotics for 4 weeks, and then followed another 4 weeks.
    • Treatment included Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei F19, Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFB 1748, and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12.

    And, the results.

    • There were no major changes in the gastrointestinal microflora.
    • At the end of the study 6 of 15 patients reported improvement based on Visual Analogue Scales and the SF-12 Health Survey

    The bottom line?
    It’s a small study with some evidence of benefit. But in the absence of a control group it’s hard to know for sure.

    However, the authors think “improvement of health is possible to achieve [and this] should encourage further studies with interventions with probiotics in patients with CFS.”

    1/28/09 19:30 JR

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