I want to tell you briefly about a pioneer in
the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). You may be
surprised that this article is not about an 'alternative medicine'
treatment, but is, in fact, an alternative approach to (and
more successful than) the 'standard of care' that so often
ties the hands of western medical practitioners.
Dr. Jay Goldstein, founder of the CFS Institute
in Orange County, California, is an M.D. with a background
in pharmacology. The Institute originally a combination of
drugs, acupuncture, and cognitive behavioral therapy. However,
Dr. Goldstein's drug cominations were so effective that the
other practitioners were unable to compete.
Perhaps Dr. Goldstein's treatments are so effective
because his neurobiological readings and research are so extensive.
Equally important is the idea that CFS, whatever its cause,
is the manifestation of a brain dysfunction. This dysfunction
can be due to genetic susceptibility, childhood developmental
stress, viral or bacterial infection, and the combination
of these factors overwhelming the brain's ability to adapt.
Many patients travel thousands of miles to see
Dr. Goldstein because nothing else has worked. His success
rate is quite high. He is a pioneer who has bucked the medical
status-quo to the point of having his license threatened.
As research and treatment confirm his approach, he is seen
more and more as the father of the most successful treatment
yet for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Update October 21, 2004: Dr. Jay Goldstein
retired from practice about a year ago, mainly due to the
hassle factor of being continually sued. Not because he did
anything wrong, but because he took on the inherent risk of
treating people who may never get better.
It's a shame that people are so base in nature
that they would blame him if he didn't cure their incurable
disease. Unfortunately, the gratitude of those he did help
couldn't outweight the emotional and financial toll taken
on him by those he couldn't help.
Despair not, though, Dr. Goldstein was a pioneer,
the father of the neuropsychiatric treatment of CFS, and more
doctors are following in his footsteps... frequently, articles
are published in journals like Pain that echo what he said
and did a decade ago.