EDITOR,-In their paper on cognitive behaviour therapy for the chronic fatigue syndrome Michael Sharpe and colleagues state that many pharmacological treatments have been suggested but none are of proved value.1 Last year Lewith stated that the only two treatments that had been properly evaluated were evening primrose oil and magnesium by injection.2 Intramuscular magnesium supplements have been given to patients with low red cell magnesium in a double blind placebo controlled trial; myalgia and fatigue improved in about 70% of subjects.3 Evening primrose oil has been used to treat myalgic encephalomyelitis and is the only other treatment that has been adequately tested in a controlled trial. High doses in randomised controlled trials have been shown to have a significant effect in 70-80% of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis or the chronic fatigue syndrome.4 I would be interested to hear Sharpe and colleagues’ comments about these papers.
You can read the full comment here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2350915/pdf/bmj00539-0052a.pdf
Comment on: Cognitive behaviour therapy for the chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. [BMJ. 1996]
Source: Chilton SA. Cognitive behaviour therapy for the chronic fatigue syndrome. Evening primrose oil and magnesium have been shown to be effective. BMJ. 1996 Apr 27;312(7038):1096; author reply 1098. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8616424