Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating illness that is characterized by pervasive fatigue, sleep disturbance, neurocognitive problems, joint and muscle pain and numerous other symptoms. Results from CFS treatment studies are equivocal. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects o...

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Main Author: Phippen, Shawn G.
Format: Others
Published: Scholarly Commons 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/576
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1575&context=uop_etds
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spelling ndltd-pacific.edu-oai-scholarlycommons.pacific.edu-uop_etds-15752021-10-05T05:12:39Z Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome Phippen, Shawn G. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating illness that is characterized by pervasive fatigue, sleep disturbance, neurocognitive problems, joint and muscle pain and numerous other symptoms. Results from CFS treatment studies are equivocal. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Ampligen® therapy on immune function and functional capacity in a group of patients with CFS. Natural killer cell number and activity, the activity of the 2-SA pathway, and results of serial cardiopulmonary exercise tests were examined for a total of seven subjects (n=7). A key finding was the normalization of RNase L. Only one subject demonstrated both a normalization in RNase L and increase in exercise performance. Trends in NK cell activity were difficult to determine. Improvements in functional capacity as measured by peak V02were seen in five subjects, but these improvements were minor. The expected improvement in both the immune system as measured by RNase L and NK cell function, and improvement in functional capacity were not seen in this study. This confirms that CFS is a very complicated syndrome and that more research is needed. Ampligen® may have been responsible for the RNase L normalization observed in some patients but NK cells seemed unaffected. It could be that Ampligen® is helping the immune system fight viruses present in the CFS subjects. Improvements in peak V02 were small but deconditioning in subjects might be a possible explanation. The exact cause of CFS remains unknown but with continued research it may yet be possible to increase our understanding of CFS. 2003-01-01T08:00:00Z text application/pdf https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/576 https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1575&context=uop_etds University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations Scholarly Commons Chronic fatigue syndrome Therapeutics Sports Sciences Sports Studies
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Chronic fatigue syndrome
Therapeutics
Sports Sciences
Sports Studies
spellingShingle Chronic fatigue syndrome
Therapeutics
Sports Sciences
Sports Studies
Phippen, Shawn G.
Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
description Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating illness that is characterized by pervasive fatigue, sleep disturbance, neurocognitive problems, joint and muscle pain and numerous other symptoms. Results from CFS treatment studies are equivocal. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Ampligen® therapy on immune function and functional capacity in a group of patients with CFS. Natural killer cell number and activity, the activity of the 2-SA pathway, and results of serial cardiopulmonary exercise tests were examined for a total of seven subjects (n=7). A key finding was the normalization of RNase L. Only one subject demonstrated both a normalization in RNase L and increase in exercise performance. Trends in NK cell activity were difficult to determine. Improvements in functional capacity as measured by peak V02were seen in five subjects, but these improvements were minor. The expected improvement in both the immune system as measured by RNase L and NK cell function, and improvement in functional capacity were not seen in this study. This confirms that CFS is a very complicated syndrome and that more research is needed. Ampligen® may have been responsible for the RNase L normalization observed in some patients but NK cells seemed unaffected. It could be that Ampligen® is helping the immune system fight viruses present in the CFS subjects. Improvements in peak V02 were small but deconditioning in subjects might be a possible explanation. The exact cause of CFS remains unknown but with continued research it may yet be possible to increase our understanding of CFS.
author Phippen, Shawn G.
author_facet Phippen, Shawn G.
author_sort Phippen, Shawn G.
title Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
title_short Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
title_full Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
title_fullStr Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
title_full_unstemmed Ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
title_sort ampligen therapy, exercise capacity and immune function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
publisher Scholarly Commons
publishDate 2003
url https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/576
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1575&context=uop_etds
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