Abstract
This study was designed to test the validity of a multitherapeutic approach to the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. The interventions were a wheat-free diet with nutritional supplementation; the homoeopathic treatment of allergies; homoeopathic constitutional prescribing; and psychotherapy. The protocol was cumulative with each phase of the treatment being added at monthly intervals. The subjects were the next 81 patients referred to the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital, UK with chronic fatigue syndrome who fulfilled the Oxford criteria. The outcome was assessed by clinical evaluation and a battery of health questionnaires. Sixty-five percent of the patients enrolled in the study had evidence of a viral trigger and 57.8% of those who completed the study had one or more allergies. Seventy percent of the patients who completed the study benefited. Patients improved from month to month with the introduction of each treatment arm, and plateaued thereafter, suggesting that all aspects of the treatment plan had a beneficial effect. Diet and the treatment of allergies are interventions which could be implemented by any doctor with a minimum of training, and can provide a useful and cost-effective approach to the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. In the case of male patients it may be wise to explain the diet also to the wife or partner. This work was a pilot study which appears to be worth validating with a placebo-controlled randomized trial.