Customer Reviews

Chronic Fatigue: Your Complete Exercise Guide (Cooper Clinic & Research Institute Fitness Series)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you have been diagnosed with CFS--aka CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) or ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)--by a competent medical professional, don't even think of reading this book. On page three, the author states that "CFS is simply a chronic, unexplained fatigue that a person has had for more than 30 days." This definition not only flies in the face of the CDC criteria (six months of unexplained fatigue along with a host of other symptoms), it creates a veritable diagnostic nightmare. A gazillion things can cause a person to feel tired for a month. And if, in fact, it turns out that you really do have CFS, the advice given by Dr. Gordon to "fight back" with exercise will most assuredly make you worse.

One of the hallmark symptoms of CFS is exercise intolerance. In short, if you exercise you will feel much worse, usually within 24 hours. Not only will you feel worse, you will get worse. Why? Because, like polio, the cause for the fatigue is the disease process itself. According to Dr. Paul Cheney, one of the world's leading experts on CFS, people with this illness have a cellular defect at the mitochondrial level which leads to a deficit in ATP production. The result of this deficit is post-exercise exhaustion, malaise, and a general worsening of all symptoms. Cells which have spent their energy on exercise (among other things) simply can't recuperate. People with CFS are literally "running on empty."

If you don't have CFS then this book might do you some good. Otherwise, follow the advice given by bona fide CFS experts, and REST.