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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...

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Autores principales: Bolton, Monica Jane, Chapman, Bryan Paul, Van Marwijk, Harm
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2020
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.
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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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