Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and mangosteen

A Background to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

It’s not unusual to feel tired or fatigued from time to time. It’s something that happens to us all irrelevant of gender or age; but it is normally just a temporary condition that soon passes. For some people however, it can be quite serious to the point of becoming debilitating, and when it lasts for longer periods of time it could be that you have developed what is called Chronic Fatigue syndrome or CFS for short.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is known by several other names which are: Post viral fatigue syndrome, Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), or simply chronic fatigue.

It can effect all ages and genders, but is more prevalent in adults between the ages of 40 to 50, and affects 4 times as many women than men. In the US alone it is estimated that 1 to 4 million adults are effected. Of the total number affected, one quarter are permanently out of work or are on disability allowance, and yet only about 50% of victims consult a doctor about their condition. But the earlier the illness is diagnosed and treated, the more likely it is that the illness can be totally cured. It is also a fact that up to 40% of the people who do see their doctor with suspected CFS, are actually found to be suffering from some other physical or psychiatric condition (for example diabetes, or thyroid problems) which is easily treatable.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a real and serious illness. It causes severe problems not only for the sufferers, but also for the families and friends, and for the health care services too. To “qualify” as a sufferer of CFS, you must display the symptoms for 6 month in the US, but for only 4 months in the UK.

What are the symptoms of CFS

The symptoms of CFS are:

• Substantially reduced short term memory or concentration
• Sore throat
• Tenderness of the lymph nodes
• Muscular pain
• Pain in joints (non-inflammatory)
• Headaches
• Sleeping without feeing refreshed
• Tiredness lasting longer than 24 hours following a period of exertion.

The symptoms listed above are prime symptoms but they may be extended to include: stomach pain, an aversion to alcohol, bloating, chest pain, Diarrhea, dryness of the eyes or mouth, disorientation, earache, heart palpitations, jaw pain, nausea, nightime perspiration, depression, irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, shortness of breath, skin irritation, tingling sensations, and weight loss.

Mangosteen can help CFS sufferers

Mangosteen is a tropical fruit which grows on Mangosteen trees in south Asia. The fruit is high in antioxidants and is rated as one of the super foods. Recent studies have reported that Mangosteen has returned successful results when used to treat CFS. In addition to antioxidants, the Mangosteen fruit is rich in xanthones. These have been linked with combating fatigue, tiredness and lethargy which is very significant in terms of helping to treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Mangosteen can also reportedly inhibit the spread of many types of cancer such as liver, breast and blood cancer.

Pills, capsules vs. juice

Mangosteen juice has been sold quite prolifically in the US but is now the subject of deep concern.

Many of the juices on sale have been found to carry such insignificant levels of mangosteen as to render the effect useless. Also where the juice is bottled “hot”, it undergoes a pasteurizing process that kills off many of Mangosteen’s active ingredients. Some hot bottling processes include adding benzoate as a preservative and this has subsequently been identified as a carcinogenic. Another concern is that all fruits imported into the US undergo a irradiation treatment.

New technology recently introduced has enabled Mangosteen to be freeze dried and powdered locally, immediately after harvesting, thus preserving the potency of the active ingredients during shipping to the processing plants in the US. The powder, when in pill form, or when encapsulated, has no taste.

The pill and capsule form is now heavily preferred, not only because it retains the fruit’s 100% natural organic status, but it is also easier to carry around. Another benefit to consider is that the powder used in the production of the pills and capsules, has no taste, and is far lighter and therefore much cheaper to ship than bottled juices.