News

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is finally getting the attention it deserves. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched an ad campaign to convince doctors and the public that the condition, once dismissed as "Yuppie flu," is a bona fide illness.

"This is a disease that has been shrouded in a lot of mystery and controversy. And sometimes people question if it's real or not real," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the influential health agency, told a news conference last week.

Although the actual cause of CFS is still not known, she noted numerous medical studies over the past two decades have clearly established that the disabling disorder is not simply a figment of a patient's imagination. "We are committed to improving the awareness that this is a real illness and that people need real medical care," said Dr. Gerberding.

Patients experience profound exhaustion, impaired memory, sleep disturbances and flu-like symptoms. But the lack of a clearly identifiable cause makes diagnosis and treatment a challenge.

To help provide guidance to health professions, as well as the afflicted and their families, the CDC has set up a website -- http://www.cdc.gov/cfs. As well, it has pledged more money for research.

Dr. Gerberding estimates at least one million Americans suffer from CFS. If that figure is correct, 100,000 Canadians could have it, too.

So, what are Canadian health officials doing about the problem? The Public Health Agency of Canada recognizes CFS is a "serious condition," said Alain Desroches, a spokesperson for the agency. "At this time, we are focusing on improving our knowledge and understanding of the burden of this condition in Canada."

Firefighters at risk

Firefighters are at significantly higher risk of developing four different types of cancer than other workers, according to a U.S. study.

They have elevated rates of testicular cancer, prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. What's more, the study confirmed previous research that indicated firefighters are at higher risk of multiple myeloma, a deadly cancer of the blood.

Firefighters are frequently exposed to noxious compounds as they put out fires. "We believe there is a direct connection between the chemical exposures firefighters experience on the job and their increased risk for cancer," said Grace LeMasters, one of the researchers at the University of Cincinnati.

The findings, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, suggests "the protective equipment firefighters have used in the past didn't do a good job in protecting them against cancer-causing agents."

Shocking discovery

Researchers have long suspected sleep plays a vital role in memory. During sleep, the brain apparently sorts, processes and stores away many of the things we have learned during the previous day.

Now, German scientists have found they can give a "power boost" to the memory process by running a mild electric current through the brain while people are asleep. For their study, researchers asked 13 medical students to memorize a series of words before they went to bed. Electrodes were placed on their scalps, and they received five bursts of electrical stimulation over a half-hour period while they slept. In the morning, they were asked to recite the words they had learned the night before.

The experiment was repeated on another night, but this time, the researchers did not actually turn on the current. Results revealed that the volunteers were 8 per cent better at reciting the correct words after receiving the real night-time stimulation, compared with the "sham" treatment.

But Jan Born, one of the researchers at the University of Lüebeck, noted not any jolt will do the trick. They used a specific current during one part of the sleep cycle to mimic natural, slow, oscillating brain waves that seem to be involved in memory. "These slow oscillations drive a replay of recently encoded memories in the hippocampus," Dr. Born explained in an e-mail. In effect, the stimulation "enhances" the part of sleep when memories are processed.

Dr. Born said the treatment might eventually help people who suffer from memory impairments and mild forms of dementia (but not complex cases of Alzheimer's). "One might also use this technique to improve sleep in insomnia patients who also lack slow-wave sleep," said Dr. Born, whose study was published in Nature.

Indeed, as we age, we tend to have increasing problems with sleep and memory. This is one approach that might treat both.

Arrival of the BlackBerry

Over a decade ago, many hospitals banned the use of cellphones by visitors, patients as well as doctors. There were fears the electromagnetic fields emitted by the cellular devices could interfere with sensitive medical equipment -- with potentially deadly consequences.

But it may be finally time to welcome back cellphones and other wireless devices.

Trillium Health Centre, in Mississauga, Ont., recently completed a study in which every member of the hospital's intensive-care unit was given a BlackBerry to communicate with each other.

The study found that the BlackBerrys, which use the same frequencies as cellphones, didn't disrupt the other equipment. Apparently, a lot of the older, more vulnerable medical devices have been replaced by new equipment with better electronic shielding.

But even more important, wireless communication -- and text messaging, in particular -- dramatically improved the running of the hospital, said Dr. Chris O'Connor, who was in charge of the study. "Health care today is provided by large interdisciplinary teams," explained Dr. O'Connor. "We can now get hold of any member of our health-care team instantly -- and they can check the content of their message quickly and decide what is the most appropriate way to respond."

He thinks other hospitals should adopt the same approach. "It is it very safe . . . and efficient -- we don't waste time looking for people any more."