Herpes drug may help with chronic fatigue

This story is pretty exciting.  I’ve never been diagnosed with CFS officially, but I think it’s pretty much tied in with FMS.

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STANFORD, Calif., Jan. 9 (UPI) A U.S. study suggests valganciclovir, a drug often used in treating diseases caused by human herpes viruses, may help with chronic fatigue syndrome.  The researchers said they treated 25 patients during the last three years and 21 have responded with significant improvement that was sustained even after going off the medication at the end of the treatment regimen, which usually lasts six months.  The first patient has now been off the drug for almost three years and has had no relapses, according to Dr. Jose Montoya and postdoctoral scholar Andreas Kogelnik of the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Valganciclovir is normally used against diseases caused by viruses in the herpes family, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and human herpes virus-6.  The findings have been published in the Journal of Clinical Virology and will be presented at the biannual meeting of the International Association for chronic fatigue syndrome in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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This story is related to the one above, but mentions the possibility of clinical trials.  Keep an eye on places like CenterWatch.com and ClinicalTrials.com and they should list when trials start recruiting.
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Medical School researchers have identified a promising drug that may prove useful in relieving chronic fatigue syndrome.

Associate Prof. Jose Montoya and postdoctoral student Andreas Kogelnik have seen 21 of the 25 patients they have treated over the past three years with drug valganciclovir improve significantly. Even better, the improvement has been sustained after patients cycled off the drug, an antiviral often used in treating diseases like herpes.

“This study is small and preliminary, but potentially very important,” said Anthony Komaroff, a Harvard Medical School Professor. “If a randomized trial confirmed the value of this therapy for patients like the ones studied here, it would be an important landmark in the treatment of this illness.”

Roche Pharmaceutical has granted Montoya $1.3 million to continue research into the drug starting this quarter. Chronic fatigue syndrome affects one million people worldwide.

The Stanford Daily

Posted by on 01/14 at 06:48 PM

  1. Looks like they have valganciclovir confused with valacyclovir.  But I would love to be wrong. 

    Valacyclovir is Valtrex, the herpes drug.  And valganciclovir is for “Treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); prevention of CMV disease in high-risk patients (donor CMV positive/recipient CMV negative) undergoing kidney, heart, or kidney/pancreas transplantation”

    Confusion aside, I’ve seen rumors that taking immunosuppressant drugs may help reset the immune system for the hyperactive freaks like myself who are now sensitive to everything.  My doc has no interest in trying it however.

    Posted by Georg  on  01/31  at  08:38 AM

  2. Georg, that’s exactly what I thought.  When I read the article I assumed the drug mentioned was just another version of Valacyclovir.  I actually hope you’re correct about the error, because Valacyclovir is much, much cheaper and much more accessible to the average person than is Valganciclovir.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  02/03  at  01:08 AM
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