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Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome
Naltrexone is used as an off-label treatment in low doses for several chronic immune-modulated disorders in many countries. Although only small-scale clinical trials have been performed, these suggest efficacy in several diseases including Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia and Gulf War Illness. Despite...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6954765/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31911410 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-232502 |
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author | Bolton, Monica Jane Chapman, Bryan Paul Van Marwijk, Harm |
author_facet | Bolton, Monica Jane Chapman, Bryan Paul Van Marwijk, Harm |
author_sort | Bolton, Monica Jane |
collection | PubMed |
description | Naltrexone is used as an off-label treatment in low doses for several chronic immune-modulated disorders in many countries. Although only small-scale clinical trials have been performed, these suggest efficacy in several diseases including Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia and Gulf War Illness. Despite numerous internet reports of response to low-dose naltrexone (LDN), no clinical trials exist in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. This condition is characterised by chronic profound fatigue, postexertional malaise, pain and autonomic and neurocognitive disturbances. This series of three case reports compiled by people with long-term ill-health due to chronic fatigue syndrome shows the range of responses they observed when taking LDN, from life changing to a reduction in some symptoms only. Treatment doses ranged from 4 to 12 mg. Clinical trials may be warranted to explore the potential use of naltrexone in people with these debilitating illnesses which currently have no licensed treatments available. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6954765 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-69547652020-01-23 Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome Bolton, Monica Jane Chapman, Bryan Paul Van Marwijk, Harm BMJ Case Rep Novel Treatment (New Drug/Intervention; Established Drug/Procedure in New Situation) Naltrexone is used as an off-label treatment in low doses for several chronic immune-modulated disorders in many countries. Although only small-scale clinical trials have been performed, these suggest efficacy in several diseases including Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia and Gulf War Illness. Despite numerous internet reports of response to low-dose naltrexone (LDN), no clinical trials exist in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. This condition is characterised by chronic profound fatigue, postexertional malaise, pain and autonomic and neurocognitive disturbances. This series of three case reports compiled by people with long-term ill-health due to chronic fatigue syndrome shows the range of responses they observed when taking LDN, from life changing to a reduction in some symptoms only. Treatment doses ranged from 4 to 12 mg. Clinical trials may be warranted to explore the potential use of naltrexone in people with these debilitating illnesses which currently have no licensed treatments available. BMJ Publishing Group 2020-01-06 /pmc/articles/PMC6954765/ /pubmed/31911410 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-232502 Text en © BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. |
spellingShingle | Novel Treatment (New Drug/Intervention; Established Drug/Procedure in New Situation) Bolton, Monica Jane Chapman, Bryan Paul Van Marwijk, Harm Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
title | Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
title_full | Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
title_fullStr | Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
title_full_unstemmed | Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
title_short | Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
title_sort | low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome |
topic | Novel Treatment (New Drug/Intervention; Established Drug/Procedure in New Situation) |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6954765/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31911410 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-232502 |
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