The Hunter-Hopkins Center

In addition to general news at this site, Hunter-Hopkins Center is pleased to announce our electronic newsletter. This e-letter will allow us to keep patients up to date on new concepts and therapies, as well as changes at the Center. It will also provide a means of alerting patients to crucial or late-breaking developments.

Persons who are interested in signing up for the newsletter should make a request by email

9th International IACFS/ME Conference

Dr. Dan Peterson and philanthropist Annette Whittemore hosted the 9th International IACFS/ME Clinical and Research Conference March 12-15, 2009. Meetings were held at the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada, just blocks from the future Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Diseases. Click here for Dr. Lapp's summary and comments.

Dr. Suzanne Vernon's summary for the CFIDS Association is found at www.cfids.org, and a summary by Dr. Ros Vallings (New Zealand) is available here.

ANZMES invites Dr. Lapp to Lecture in New Zealand

Dr. Ros Vallings and Heather Wilson, President of the Associated New Zealand ME Societies invited Dr. Lapp to give a series of lectures to physicians and support groups in several NZ cities during November. Traveling from Auckland in the North Island to Dunedin in the South, Dr. Lapp delivered 6 presentations to general practitioners and rheumatologists, one to GPs and a large support group meeting in Nelson.

This was a wonderful opportunity for Dr. Lapp to share ideas and management plans with many other physicians, and to learn how CFS/ME is regarded in other countries. In addition, Lapp was able to visit private practices and several hospitals. One doctor commented, "The feedback has been excellent and you certainly taught a lot of new things ... [and] I think you have taught that medical people do actually know a lot about the condition... you have lifted spirits!"

New Zealand suffered an epidemic (now known as the "Tapanui Flu") at the same time that Drs. Lapp, Cheney, Peterson, and Bell were wrestling with epidemics in America.

Know Fibro

Lilly Pharmaceuticals has sponsored FM expert, Dr. Dan Clauw, and PWF Martha Beck, to produce an excellent online booklet about Fibromyalgia. Readers will not only learn about FM, but also how to manage their own illness. The 29 page booklet can be viewed or downloaded at:

Medscape's "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: From Diagnosis to Management "

Drs. Cindy Bateman and Charles Lapp have authored a new educational course in association with the CFIDS Association of America. The highly-rated medical site, Medscape, released this course in October 2008, and is providing CME credits for physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. For more details or to take the course go to:

Dr.Lapp CHATS on ImmuneSupport.com

On the evening of February 1, 2008, Dr. Lapp was the host of ProHealth's Chat Room. According to the producer, this particular program set a new record by attracting 3 times more participants than the previous chat. If you're interested in finding out more, click on the link below:

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/8665

New York Times Article: Is FM REAL?

On January 14, 2008, the front page of the New York Times featured an article by Alex Berenson titled, “Drug Approved. Is Disease Real?”

Berenson pointed to the recent FDA approval of Lyrica® for the treatment of fibromyalgia, and then wondered how the FDA could approve a drug for a disease that doesn’t really exist. He quotes several outspoken critics of FM in order to shore up his opinion.

I don’t know about you, but I was furious – as were most other physicians who (unlike Berenson or his skeptics) deal with FM every day.

I encourage you take a sedative, lie down, then read the article at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04EFDD1531F937A25752C0A96E9C8B63

Here is Dr. Lapp's response to the Editor of the Times:

Alex Berenson's January 14 article on the front page of the Times queries, "Is [Fibromyalgia] Real?" How can Berenson – a young journalist and novelist with no obvious medical credentials – presume to challenge whether fibromyalgia (FM) is real when scientists with greater knowledge and understanding have already concluded that it is real?

The diagnosis of FM is accepted by such venerable institutions as the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Rheumatology, the FDA, and the World Health Organization. Those who suffer with FM know it's real; those with FM pain that interferes with sleep, and movement, and concentration know it's real; those who want and need to work but are disabled by FM know it's real.

It is distressing that a few individuals such as Fred Wolfe and Norton Hadler have been given such credence in the Times when the vast majority of authorities think otherwise. These men cling to an antiquated philosophy that says, "If you can't see something obviously wrong with a person, then the symptoms must be in the head." In a sense, FM is an invisible illness. You cannot see pain, or sleep disruption, or bone-crushing fatigue—but these are all real.

In addition to fibromyalgia, Hadler for one also discredits carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic low back pain. For those who have these painful and disabling problems, they are as real as rain. Other skeptics disregard "invisible" illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome and PMS.

Skeptics will always exist. There are some who believe that AIDS is not real. As is the case with FM, the skeptics are clearly wrong but entitled to their beliefs. They don't usually get a forum on the front page of the New York Times, however.

Berenson's article is clearly one-sided, giving a few skeptics a greater voice. I sincerely hope you will balance their perception with the wider-held perspective that FM is a real disease and a real cause of morbidity and disability. As a specialist who treats men and women with FM, I am grateful for the companies that research medications for the management of this disorder.

Charles W. Lapp, M.D.
Director, Hunter-Hopkins Center, Charlotte, N.C.
Assistant Consulting Professor, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

If you’d like to read other responses, go to the FM Network at: http://www.fmnetnews.com/basics-news.php#DrsRespond .

Dr.Lapp Produces Educational Course with the CDC and CAA

Many of our friends and patients are not aware that Dr. Lapp has co-authored an educational course with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the CFIDS Association of America. Dr. Lapp and Leonard Jason, PhD are the trainers for this course, which is available on line. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Diagnostic & Management Challenge is a 2-hour course of study designed to provide an overview of chronic fatigue syndrome. The goal of this course is to assist health care professionals in detecting, diagnosing, and managing this complicated disorder.

This is an excellent source of information that you can recommend to your primary physician!

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