Finally an Answer to the Most Common Complaint : Fatigue

The most common complaint of patients seeking general medical assistance is fatigue. Fatigue occurs naturally during aging and in most degenerative diseases, including neurological, respiratory, coronary, musculoskeletal, metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases as well as infections and cancer, and it is characterized at the cellular level by diminished mitochondrial function through loss of efficiency in the electron transport chain. Lipid Replacement Therapy administered using an all-natural nutritional supplement containing membrane glycophospholipids and antioxidants can reduce or prevent fatigue and membrane oxidative damage and restore mitochondrial function. Recent clinical trials using patients with chronic fatigue have shown the benefit of Lipid Replacement Therapy in restoring mitochondrial electron transport function and reducing moderate to severe chronic fatigue. Introduction Chronic or intractable fatigue that is not reversed by sleep is the most common complaint of patients seeking medical care. 2 It is also an important secondary condition in many degenerative diseases and occurs naturally during aging. The phenomenon of fatigue has been defined as a multidimensional sensation, and clinical studies have determined the extent of fatigue in various medical conditions and its possible causes. Many diseases are associated with fatigue, including neurological, respiratory, coronary, musculoskeletal, metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases as well as infections and cancer. Most patients understand fatigue as a loss of overall energy and inability to perform even simple tasks without exertion. At the cellular level fatigue is related to cellular energy systems found primarily in the cells' mitochondria. Damage to mitochondrial components, especially mitochondrial membranes, occurs mainly by oxidation, and this can result in increased ion leakage across mitochondrial membranes and impair the ability of mitochondria to produce high-energy molecules needed for survival and growth. During aging and most chronic diseases the production of oxidative molecules, such as Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), can cause oxidative stress and cellular damage, resulting in oxidation of lipids, proteins and DNA. When oxidized, these molecules are structurally and sometimes functionally changed. Important targets of ROS/RNS damage are mitochondria, mainly their phospholipid-containing membranes, as well as cellular and mitochondrial DNA. One of the most important changes in tissues and cells during aging and in chronic degenerative diseases is accumulated oxidative damage due to ROS/RNS. ROS/RNS are oxidative and free radical oxygenand nitrogen-containing molecules, such as nitric oxide, oxygen and hydroxide radicals and other molecules. Critical targets of these cellular oxidants are the genetic apparatus and cellular membranes, and in the case of cellular membranes oxidation can affect lipid fluidity, permeability and membrane function. Similar damage occurs in fatiguing illnesses, such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), where patients have intractable fatigue for at least six months and show increased susceptibility to oxidative stress and peroxidation. 15 In this brief review I will concentrate on recent clinical trials that have shown the effectiveness of lipid replacement therapy (LRT) plus antioxidants in the treatment of certain clinical disorders and conditions, such as chronic fatigue. 7 LRT is not just the dietary substitution of certain lipids with proposed health benefits; it is the actual replacement of damaged cellular lipids with undamaged (unoxidized) lipids to ensure proper function of cellular Finally an Answer to the Most Common Complaint: Fatigue