Nitric oxide is produced in the body and is a free radical. It has many functions in the body including dialation of the blood vessels. It was found in the late 90’s to have a role in the signaling for the cardiovascular and neurological systems.  There are some theories about excessive release of nitric oxide causing symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyaliga. Here is a link to a really great article which theorises how these illnesses can have so many different causes but all result in the same symptoms. HERE. It talks about how bacterial/viral infections, physical trauma, or a multitude of other causes could trigger an increase in nitric oxide synthesis and increase the sensitivity of the NMDA receptor (that i was talking about in my previous post) This increased NMDA sensitivity leads to pain in Fibromyalgia and Chronc Fatigue patients. Nitric oxide is an extremely reactive molecule and can create a very damaging oxidant called peroxynitrite. These high levels of free radicals in the body can cause glutathione and essential fatty acid depletion. Certain doctors such as Rich Van Konynenburg (and others) believe that glutathione depletion can possibly lead to diseases like CFS and FMS. In previous posts i talked about how i went to a Dr. named Jay Goldstein. I saw him for about a year and a half. His main theories as to what caused Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia have to do with Nitric Oxide and the NMDA receptor. He wrote a couple books about this. The 1st one called Betrayal By the Brain is one that im more familiar with, but the other one Tuning the Brain he wrote after he stopped taking patients and im not really familiar with it. But they have alot more to say concerning the NMDA receptor and how it could play a role in these two diseases.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 12:53 am and is filed under Fibromyalgia, NMDA, Treatments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.