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Health Highlights: March 20, 2008
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Cortisol May Benefit Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Patients
The stress hormone cortisol may provide significant symptom relief to people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, says a U.S. researcher who reviewed the findings of 50 published studies.
The review author said the adrenal glands -- which produce cortisol and sex hormones -- don't function properly in chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia patients,CBC Newsreported.
"My review of existing studies suggests that a treatment protocol of early administration of cortisol may help improve and reduce the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia," Dr. Kent Holtorf, medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group Center for Endocrine, Neurological and Infection Related Illness in Torrance, Calif., said in a prepared statement.
He also conducted a study of 500 patients who received cortisol and found that by the fourth treatment, 75 percent of patients showed significant improvement and 62 percent reported substantial improvement,CBC Newsreported.
The research appears in theJournal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
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