D-Ribose Improves QOL For People with Chronic Fatigue

D-ribose, a naturally occurring pentose carbohydrate, has great potential as a remedy for CFS.

 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition characterized by severe and long-lasting exhaustion, but it can also manifest in symptoms of sleep disturbance, memory and concentration difficulties, widespread muscle and joint pain, headaches, and extreme tiredness following physical or mental exertion (Ravindran, et al. BMC Neurology. 2011; 11: 30).

The pathophysiology is not yet fully understood, and few effective therapies have yet been identified.

Internist Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, a physician who has focused on CFS for many years views the condition as an “energy crisis” that’s triggered when people expend more energy than their bodies are able to produce.

Central to his view is the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the “energy dollars” that the body produces to spend on all its exertive efforts. ATP levels have been found to be up to 80 percent higher in healthy individuals versus CFS patients (Bazzichi, et al. Clin Biochem. 2008; 41(13): 1084-90).

Jump-Starting the Mitochondria

Dr. Teitelbaum became interested in CFS during his own struggle with the condition, which dates back to his medical school days in the 1970s.

He hypothesized that supporting ATP production among CFS sufferers might help reverse the effects of the disease by jump-starting their mitochondrial energy furnaces.

The fundamental building blocks of ATP include phosphates, adenine, B vitamins, and ribose. Adenine is ubiquitous in the body, and phosphate is easily acquired through diet; Dr. Teitelbaum identified B vitamins and ribose as two potential tools for strengthening ATP production.

After noticing that vitamin B supplementation appeared to reduce his patients’ symptoms, he wondered if ribose might offer similar relief from CFS – and he was shocked to see just how dramatically it did so.

Confirming the results of a previous pilot study (Teitelbaum, et al. J Alt Comp Med. 2006; 12(9): 857–862), Dr. Teitelbaum’s latest research shows tremendous promise for ribose as a treatment for CFS (Teitelbaum, et al. Open Pain J. 2012; 5: 32-37.)

In a multicenter trial involving over 250 participants from 53 different health clinics, patients were given five grams of ribose three times a day for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, patients reported an astounding 61% average increase in quality of life and a 37% improvement in overall wellbeing.

Further side benefits of ribose treatment included enhanced quality of sleep, cognitive functioning, and relief from pain.

Rise and SHINE

Though the data are encouraging, Dr. Teitelbaum cautions against viewing ribose–or any single treatment – as a magic bullet.

Rather than addressing CFS through nutrition alone, he encourages the use of an integrated therapeutic approach he calls the SHINE protocol, short for “Sleep, Hormonal support, Immunity, Nutritional support, and Exercise as able.”

SHINE offers patients an “antidote to the human energy crisis.” He has found that when patients follow the protocol for 99 days, 91% of people experience relief from symptoms and report an average 90% increase in quality of life (Teitelbaum, et al. J Chron Fat Syn. 2001; 8(2): 3-28).

A clinician’s handbook on the SHINE protocol can be found on Dr. Teitelbaum’s website, www.endfatigue.com.

“When you treat the entire package, the entire energy crisis from multiple angles, people can get their lives back.”

In a final word of caution, Dr. Teitelbaum warns that if practitioners help treat patients just so that they “can go back to a life they hate, you have done nothing for them, and they will get sick again. They will find another way to trigger their CFS.”

From a psychospiritual perspective, CFS may offer patients an opportunity to slow down and examine the deeper underlying causes of their blown energy fuses. While ribose appears to be a key piece of the CFS puzzle, a sustainable recovery requires healing on all physical, emotional, and energetic levels.

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Kristen Schepker holds a Master’s degree in Integrative Health Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a certified yoga instructor and holistic health and wellness coach practicing in San Francisco, CA.

 
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