http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703858404576214443015558976.html?mod=googlenews_wsj - By AMY DOCKSER MARCUS - Snippet: "As scientists race to find a biological cause for chronic fatigue syndrome, long considered by many doctors to exist in patients' heads, the National Institutes of Health could shed new light on the debate at a major scientific workshop on the disorder. Researchers at the University of Utah and elsewhere are working to create diagnostic tests, based partly on proteins or other markers that appear to show up in greater quantities in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Diagnosing the disorder is difficult, in part because symptoms vary among patients. Other scientists are trying to understand why other infections, such as mononucleosis, appear to prompt chronic fatigue syndrome in some patients. And in a program at New York's Columbia University, researchers are seeking to identify pathogens that may appear prominently in patients with the disorder. Researchers will be testing "for all those agents that we know affect vertebrates on this globe," says Mady Hornig, who heads the Columbia program. Chronic fatigue syndrome affects between one million and four million Americans. They suffer from memory and concentration problems, debilitating pain and severe fatigue. Unable to identify a cause, doctors often dismissed these patients as complainers. Currently, diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome is largely a process of elimination. Molly J. Billings, 22 years old, first showed symptoms of the disorder in 2004, including headaches, muscle aches, fatigue and weakness. A year later, she could only get around by wheelchair and was bed-bound most of the time. She endured years of tests to rule out other medical explanations for her condition. [Picture of Molly J. Billings, who has chronic fatigue syndrome, left, with her mother, Edwina, in their Kendall, N.Y., kitchen.]"

"I ran into this story of a Chemo Drug called Rituximab being used and tested on CFS/ME patients that has helped them. This has led them to think in a different direction as far as helping us. This drug has helped other illnesses too." - http://forums.aboutmecfs.org/content.php?287-A-Drug-For-ME-CFS-The-Rituximab-Story-possible-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-treatment - Snippet: "Could the first drug for ME/CFS be a chemotherapeutic drug? That would sound like a long shot at best but the fact is a two physicians in Norway are having surprising success with a drug originally developed to treat cancer."

FROM DOM: For the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with Somnapure http://www.peaklife.com in an attempt to gradually decrease (and hopefully eliminate) some of the sleep drugs I have to use (or I don't sleep at all). So far I've reacted favorably to Somnapure, which contains melatonin and herbs. It does help me feel drowsy and sleep. If you have tried Somnapure, please write dombush@bellsouth.net with comments. My current list of meds is at www.fms-help.com/what.htm. A list of EVERYTHING I've tried for sleep in the past is at www.fms-help.com/sleep.htm. My insomnia story is at www.fms-help.com/insomnia.htm. Each of us is different as to what helps. After decades of little to poor sleep, I am thankful for anything that helps! Without sleep, your immune system can't help your body repair itself.