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Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses": Disease Paradigm for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Fibromyalgia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Gulf War Syndrome and Others
Discover the answer to the mysteries of these debilitating illnesses
Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses" provides long-sought explanations for the properties of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), fibromyalgia, and posttraumatic stress disorder. This groundbreaking book examines common symptoms and signs; short-term stressors such as infection, chemical exposure, physical trauma, and severe psychological stress; why people are often diagnosed as having more than one of these illnesses, and approaches for treating the cause of each disease, rather than the symptoms. The book presents a detailed and well-supported mechanism (the NO/ONOO- cycle) that provides consistent explanations for many of the puzzling elements of these diseases.
At least a dozen scientists have proposed that chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, and fibromyalgia must share a common mechanism; others have suggested posttraumatic stress disorder may belong to this group as well. This unique book provides explanations for their previously unexplained properties with more than 1,500 references to scientific literature, creating a whole new approach to therapy and treatment of these illnesses.
Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses" provides answers to these questions:
how do short-term stressors initiate chronic illness?
how does the biochemistry of the NO/ONOO- cycle produce chronic illness?
how can the diverse symptoms and signs of these illnesses be generated as a consequence of their common biochemistry?
why is there so much variation in symptoms from one sufferer to another?
what are the principles underlying the NO/ONOO- cycle mechanism?
how does the NO/ONOO- cycle provide explanations for a dozen previously unexplained properties of these illnesses?
how might 14 additional illnesses/diseases also be caused by the NO/ONOO- cycle etiology?
and many more
Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses" is a must-read for physicians and scientists, and for anyone who suffers from-or knows someone who suffers from--these previously puzzling illnesses.
Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses" provides long-sought explanations for the properties of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), fibromyalgia, and posttraumatic stress disorder. This groundbreaking book examines common symptoms and signs; short-term stressors such as infection, chemical exposure, physical trauma, and severe psychological stress; why people are often diagnosed as having more than one of these illnesses, and approaches for treating the cause of each disease, rather than the symptoms. The book presents a detailed and well-supported mechanism (the NO/ONOO- cycle) that provides consistent explanations for many of the puzzling elements of these diseases.
At least a dozen scientists have proposed that chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, and fibromyalgia must share a common mechanism; others have suggested posttraumatic stress disorder may belong to this group as well. This unique book provides explanations for their previously unexplained properties with more than 1,500 references to scientific literature, creating a whole new approach to therapy and treatment of these illnesses.
Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses" provides answers to these questions:
how do short-term stressors initiate chronic illness?
how does the biochemistry of the NO/ONOO- cycle produce chronic illness?
how can the diverse symptoms and signs of these illnesses be generated as a consequence of their common biochemistry?
why is there so much variation in symptoms from one sufferer to another?
what are the principles underlying the NO/ONOO- cycle mechanism?
how does the NO/ONOO- cycle provide explanations for a dozen previously unexplained properties of these illnesses?
how might 14 additional illnesses/diseases also be caused by the NO/ONOO- cycle etiology?
and many more
Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses" is a must-read for physicians and scientists, and for anyone who suffers from-or knows someone who suffers from--these previously puzzling illnesses.
- GenresHealthNonfiction
462 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 10, 2012
It is important to note that Pall should not be considered a M.E. expert and that when he refers to `CFS' this information should not be assumed to apply in whole or in part to M.E.
Some of what he is saying generally may possibly be relevant to M.E. patients to some extent (as regards treatment, rather than symptomatology or aetiology, as it does with multiple sclerosis for example), but this is as yet unclear due to the fact he unfortunately makes no distinction between fatigue and `CFS' and the distinct neurological disease M.E.
M.E. is NOT at all a medically unexplained illness, and has little in common with the conditions Pall claims `share many symptoms and often occur together' such as PTSD and MCS and Fibromyalgia - unlike `CFS.' As Pall claims, `CFS' (or rather, those illnesses which are misdiagnosed as `CFS') can be caused by many different things including bacterial infections, psychological stress and physical trauma but this makes it very clear that when Pall refers to `CFS' he is not referring to genuine M.E.
Anyone who describes an illness that is based on fatigue, is medically unexplained, has symptoms similar to Fibromyalgia or PTSD etc., and that can be caused by many different things such as trauma, physical and emotional stress and bacterial infection and common virus infections such as EBV or herpes etc., IS NOT REFERRING TO M.E. and is not knowledgeable about even the most basic facts of M.E.
The research is very clear that M.E. is not (and cannot) be caused by stress, trauma or bacterial infections and so on. M.E. is caused by a virus, an enterovirus and is primarily a testable and measurable neurological disease with many distinct features and unique symptoms.
Please, if you have a 'CFS' (mis)diagnosis, do everything you can to find your correct diagnosis, do not accept 'CFS' ever as an end point to the process of diagnosis. This theory may have some merit as regards M.E., some of it fits, but this information is inaccurate with many basic facts about M.E. so please go elsewhere for that info!
What you really need to know is:
M.E. patients were treated appropriately and correctly diagnosed until around 1988, when there was an increase in the number of M.E. patients and outbreaks in the US. Some medical insurance companies (and others) decided that they would prefer not to lose many millions of dollars on so many new claims and so they created a new vague fictional disease category called 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' to try to confuse the issue of M.E. and to hide M.E. in plain sight.
Under the cover of 'CFS' certain vested interest groups have assiduously attempted to obliterate recorded medical history of M.E.; even though the existing evidence has been published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals around the world and spans over 70 years.
M.E. is a distinct, scientifically verifiable and measurable, acute onset, organic neurological disease. 'CFS' in contrast, is not a distinct disease. 'CFS' doesn't exist. Every diagnosis of CFS - based on any of the CFS definitions - can only ever be a misdiagnosis. A watebasket diagnosis.
The fact that a person qualifies for a diagnosis of 'CFS' (a) does not mean that the patient has M.E., and (b) does not mean that the patient has any other distinct illness named CFS.' M.E. and 'CFS' are not the same.
Far fewer than 0.5% of the population has the distinct neurological disease known since 1956 as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is an artificial construct created in the US in 1988 for the benefit of various political and financial vested interest groups. It is a mere diagnosis of exclusion based on the presence of gradual or acute onset fatigue lasting 6 months. If tests show serious abnormalities, a person no longer qualifies for the diagnosis, as 'CFS' is 'medically unexplained.' A diagnosis of 'CFS' does not mean that a person has any distinct disease (including M.E.). According to the latest CDC estimates, 2.54% of the population qualify for a 'CFS' (mis)diagnosis.
The patient population diagnosed with 'CFS' is made up of people with a vast array of unrelated illnesses, or with no detectable illness. However, while 'CFS' is not a genuine diagnosis, those given this misdiagnosis are in many cases significantly or even severely ill and disabled. 'CFS' is made up of people with cancer, MS, Lyme disease, depression and hundreds of other unrelated conditions.
Sub-grouping different types of 'CFS,' refining the bogus 'CFS' definitions further or renaming 'CFS' with some variation on the term M.E. (such as 'ME/CFS') would achieve nothing and only create yet more confusion and help to continue and further entrench the mistreatment and abuse.
The problem is not that 'CFS' patients are being mistreated as psychiatric patients; some of those patients misdiagnosed with CFS actually do have psychological illnesses. There is no such distinct disease/s as 'CFS' - that is the entire issue.
Due to outrageous political influences on medicine and govermnent policy, the vast majority of M.E. patients will not be able to be correctly diagnosed with M.E. Most M.E. patients will unfortunately be misdiagnosed with 'CFS.' It is extremely important to note, however, that only a very tiny percentage of those told they have 'CFS' will be M.E. patients. The overwhelming majority of those misdiagnosed with 'CFS' do NOT have M.E. 'CFS' is NOT just another term for M.E.
The name Myalgic Encephalomyelitis must be fully restored (to the exclusion of all others) and the World Health Organization classification of M.E. (as a distinct neurological disease) must be accepted and adhered to in all official documentations and government policy. M.E. patients must again be diagnosed with M.E. and treated appropriately for M.E. based on actual M.E. research. For this to happen, there is a real need for patients (and others) to participate in genuine advocacy and activism.
The bogus disease category of 'CFS' must be abandoned. All those misdiagnosed with 'CFS' must immediately reject this harmful misdiagnosis and begin the search to find their correct diagnosis whether this be M.E., PVFS, depression, cancer, or any other disease. Correct diagnosis is vital in obtaining the correct treatment.
Jodi Bassett, HFME
Some of what he is saying generally may possibly be relevant to M.E. patients to some extent (as regards treatment, rather than symptomatology or aetiology, as it does with multiple sclerosis for example), but this is as yet unclear due to the fact he unfortunately makes no distinction between fatigue and `CFS' and the distinct neurological disease M.E.
M.E. is NOT at all a medically unexplained illness, and has little in common with the conditions Pall claims `share many symptoms and often occur together' such as PTSD and MCS and Fibromyalgia - unlike `CFS.' As Pall claims, `CFS' (or rather, those illnesses which are misdiagnosed as `CFS') can be caused by many different things including bacterial infections, psychological stress and physical trauma but this makes it very clear that when Pall refers to `CFS' he is not referring to genuine M.E.
Anyone who describes an illness that is based on fatigue, is medically unexplained, has symptoms similar to Fibromyalgia or PTSD etc., and that can be caused by many different things such as trauma, physical and emotional stress and bacterial infection and common virus infections such as EBV or herpes etc., IS NOT REFERRING TO M.E. and is not knowledgeable about even the most basic facts of M.E.
The research is very clear that M.E. is not (and cannot) be caused by stress, trauma or bacterial infections and so on. M.E. is caused by a virus, an enterovirus and is primarily a testable and measurable neurological disease with many distinct features and unique symptoms.
Please, if you have a 'CFS' (mis)diagnosis, do everything you can to find your correct diagnosis, do not accept 'CFS' ever as an end point to the process of diagnosis. This theory may have some merit as regards M.E., some of it fits, but this information is inaccurate with many basic facts about M.E. so please go elsewhere for that info!
What you really need to know is:
M.E. patients were treated appropriately and correctly diagnosed until around 1988, when there was an increase in the number of M.E. patients and outbreaks in the US. Some medical insurance companies (and others) decided that they would prefer not to lose many millions of dollars on so many new claims and so they created a new vague fictional disease category called 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' to try to confuse the issue of M.E. and to hide M.E. in plain sight.
Under the cover of 'CFS' certain vested interest groups have assiduously attempted to obliterate recorded medical history of M.E.; even though the existing evidence has been published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals around the world and spans over 70 years.
M.E. is a distinct, scientifically verifiable and measurable, acute onset, organic neurological disease. 'CFS' in contrast, is not a distinct disease. 'CFS' doesn't exist. Every diagnosis of CFS - based on any of the CFS definitions - can only ever be a misdiagnosis. A watebasket diagnosis.
The fact that a person qualifies for a diagnosis of 'CFS' (a) does not mean that the patient has M.E., and (b) does not mean that the patient has any other distinct illness named CFS.' M.E. and 'CFS' are not the same.
Far fewer than 0.5% of the population has the distinct neurological disease known since 1956 as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is an artificial construct created in the US in 1988 for the benefit of various political and financial vested interest groups. It is a mere diagnosis of exclusion based on the presence of gradual or acute onset fatigue lasting 6 months. If tests show serious abnormalities, a person no longer qualifies for the diagnosis, as 'CFS' is 'medically unexplained.' A diagnosis of 'CFS' does not mean that a person has any distinct disease (including M.E.). According to the latest CDC estimates, 2.54% of the population qualify for a 'CFS' (mis)diagnosis.
The patient population diagnosed with 'CFS' is made up of people with a vast array of unrelated illnesses, or with no detectable illness. However, while 'CFS' is not a genuine diagnosis, those given this misdiagnosis are in many cases significantly or even severely ill and disabled. 'CFS' is made up of people with cancer, MS, Lyme disease, depression and hundreds of other unrelated conditions.
Sub-grouping different types of 'CFS,' refining the bogus 'CFS' definitions further or renaming 'CFS' with some variation on the term M.E. (such as 'ME/CFS') would achieve nothing and only create yet more confusion and help to continue and further entrench the mistreatment and abuse.
The problem is not that 'CFS' patients are being mistreated as psychiatric patients; some of those patients misdiagnosed with CFS actually do have psychological illnesses. There is no such distinct disease/s as 'CFS' - that is the entire issue.
Due to outrageous political influences on medicine and govermnent policy, the vast majority of M.E. patients will not be able to be correctly diagnosed with M.E. Most M.E. patients will unfortunately be misdiagnosed with 'CFS.' It is extremely important to note, however, that only a very tiny percentage of those told they have 'CFS' will be M.E. patients. The overwhelming majority of those misdiagnosed with 'CFS' do NOT have M.E. 'CFS' is NOT just another term for M.E.
The name Myalgic Encephalomyelitis must be fully restored (to the exclusion of all others) and the World Health Organization classification of M.E. (as a distinct neurological disease) must be accepted and adhered to in all official documentations and government policy. M.E. patients must again be diagnosed with M.E. and treated appropriately for M.E. based on actual M.E. research. For this to happen, there is a real need for patients (and others) to participate in genuine advocacy and activism.
The bogus disease category of 'CFS' must be abandoned. All those misdiagnosed with 'CFS' must immediately reject this harmful misdiagnosis and begin the search to find their correct diagnosis whether this be M.E., PVFS, depression, cancer, or any other disease. Correct diagnosis is vital in obtaining the correct treatment.
Jodi Bassett, HFME
unfinished
November 26, 2011This is a well-written book with solid theories, logical flow, and excellent research, but I just couldn't bring myself to read it all the way through. It was basically reading a textbook. Not exactly light! His theory about chronic illness being caused (at least in part) by a vicious cycle of inflammation matches with my experience. I think his points are well made and likely very valid. I wish I had tried more anti-inflammatory measures early on in my illness, but I am glad to at least have this information now.
March 1, 2015
I read this book not sure what to expect. The author seems to know their stuff and offers countless citations to back up his points. The material is verbose, but the author offers nice summaries at the beginning/end of chapters.
Based on the title I was hoping I'd get a general understanding of disease that could be applied to my issues (which aren't mentioned in the title).
However, what I found was a single theory that explains these diseases but didn't seem relevant to me. Not that this is the fault of the book, it just doesn't seem applicable outside of its target health issues.
Based on the title I was hoping I'd get a general understanding of disease that could be applied to my issues (which aren't mentioned in the title).
However, what I found was a single theory that explains these diseases but didn't seem relevant to me. Not that this is the fault of the book, it just doesn't seem applicable outside of its target health issues.
July 16, 2020
Very clear to read by the layman as I was searching some of my diagnosed issues here. It was written in 2007 and fibromyalgia for one is more recognised even today and people are getting much more help and understanding. It’s still one of those ‘if you look ok there’s nothing wrong with you’ diseases. No one would understand this condition unless you have it!
March 25, 2021
I purchased this book due to the encouragement of friends and IMO it is about worthless. I gave it to my doctor and I don't think he was glad to get it. Don't waste your money.
I don't recall when I got it.
I don't recall when I got it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews