Nutrition Insights

Help for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
HHV-6 is a seeming innocuous abbreviation. But what it signifies could hold an important key in our understanding of how to initiate the healing response among patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromylagia and multiple sclerosis. This is cutting edge information your doctor probably doesn't even know about. And your doctor probably won't know that the cure is potentially at hand. So pay attention. It could mean the difference between health and happiness and disease and misery.

HHV-6 stands for human herpesvirus-6.

And it may be a big deal.

"Interestingly, HHV-6 was only discovered in 1986 by scientists associated with the National Institutes of Health," notes Joseph Brewer, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Missouri School of medicine.

How HHV-6 Causes Chronic Illness
HHV-6 is a nasty virus that infects a wide range of the body's cells, including brain, immune and endothelial cells. It comes in two variants (A and B) with the A variant attracting most of the attention. Not surprisingly, HHV-6 is closely related to herpes simplex virus-1 which causes oral herpes, the herpes virus most of us have heard about, but it's potentially far more devastating.

Most of us have been or will be exposed to at least one of the HHV-6 variants (usually the less harmful variant B), although we rarely demonstrate symptoms. What keeps us healthy and free from its devastating effects is a healthy immune system. If it's strong, we stay healthy. But if the immune system is suppressed, we can be in big trouble.

Opportunistic Virus
HHV-6, like all viruses, is a master manipulator of the body's immune system resources and, if the opportunity presents itself, literally reprograms the human immune system to function in such a manner as to promote its own survival and proliferation.

HHV-6 does so by, among other things, stimulating overproduction of a number of immune factors, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukins 1 and 10, while decreasing production of natural killer cells, interleukins 12 and 18, and interferon gamma.

HHV-6 is able to disarm the body's immune cells. It not only increases production of TNF-alpha; it alters this immune protein so that it is powerless to attack the virus. This, in turn, increases the propagating powers of HHV-6. So we get more and more inactive immune cells involved. The immune system thinks it is attacking HHV-6 but it is really enhancing its survival.

All of this eventually causes something else that may be intimately related to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. HHV-6 causes so much immune cell havoc in the body's blood vessels, including the buildup of immune cells, the result is blocked blood flow. This is characterized by cell clumping and thickened blood, so much so that the red blood cells of the body can no longer deliver adequate oxygen supplies to the body's tissues. Hence, that is why we now think the pain of fibromyalgia is akin to that of a stroke or heart attack, wherein blood flow is cut off to tissues.

And what happens once the virus is unleashed? The effects are devastating. So far it is strongly implicated in terminal AIDS patients, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia syndrome, and generalized immune breakdown. That's probably just the beginning, since HHV-6 may also reactivate other latent viruses in the body, including cytomegolovirus, Epstein-Barr, and other herpes viruses, among others.

Immune Defense™
Plants, like humans, are under constant attack from their environment. They have developed effective defense systems against insects, bacteria, and even viruses.

Many of these same protective plant substances have been studied and several have been found to be safely assimilated by humans and to invigorate the body's vital energy. For example, resveratrol. Goldenseal contains the alkaloids berberine and coralyne; it has a powerful anti-microbial effect that can help to protect against bacterial and viral invaders.

Echinacea, astragalus, and angelica are all long revered herbs for restoring the body's immune vitality. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, astragalus is considered an overall enhancer of the body's immunity. All of us require a strong immune system. Immune Defense provides a blend of nutrients and herbs that complement a healthy diet to give the body just a little more vital energy to defend itself against viral invaders like HHV-6. Is immune function important? You bet.

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