Originally Posted by fmichael

Dear Jeanne and Gene -

No wonder I'm getting confused about names around here.

Jeanne - Thank you very much for your concern. Just out of curiousity, are you aware of chronic edemic in the effected limbs showing up in CHRONIC FATIGUE, FIBROMYALGIA, AND LYMES? If you or anyone is, let me know. Txs.

Gene - Not only did I check the Internet for the ACCESS Study, but I read the free full text version, or much of it. Turns out that my treating physician and source for the information about spontaneous remission, Prof. (Emeritus) Om P. Sharma at U.S.C., was not only one of the named committee members on the report, but an author of a study the report cited for the proposition I asserted. Here's what it has to say about spontaneous remission:

“Statement on Sarcoidosis [ACCESS Study],” Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 160, Number 2, August 1999, 736-755; 745:

Spontaneous remissions occur in nearly two-thirds of patients, but the course is chronic or progressive in 10 to 30% (23, 25,
28–30, 62, 179, 234).
__________________

23. Scadding, J. 1961. Prognosis of intrathoracic sarcoidosis in England:
a review of 136 cases after 5 years’ observations. Br. Med. J. 2:1165–1172.

25. Siltzbach, L. E., D. G. James, E. Neville, J. Turiaf, J. P. Battesti, O. P.
Sharma, Y. Hosoda, R. Mikami, and M. Odaka. 1974. Course and
prognosis of sarcoidosis around the world. Am. J. Med. 57:847–852.

28. Neville, E., A. N. Walker, and D. G. James. 1983. Prognostic factors
predicting the outcome of sarcoidosis: an analysis of 818 patients. Q.
J. Med. 52:525–533.

29. Romer, F. K. 1982. Presentation of sarcoidosis and outcome of pulmonary
changes. Dan. Bull. Med. 29:27–32.

30. Hillerdal, G., E. Nou, K. Osterman, and B. Schmekel. 1984. Sarcoidosis:
epidemiology and prognosis. A 15-year European study. Am. Rev.
Respir. Dis. 130:29–32.

62. Henke, C. E., G. Henke, L. R. Elveback, C. M. Beard, D. J. Ballard,
and L. T. Kurland. 1986. The epidemiology of sarcoidosis in Rochester,
Minnesota: a population-based study of incidence and survival.
Am. J. Epidemiol. 123:840–845.

179. Lynch, J. P., III, E. A. Kazerooni, and S. E. Gay. 1997. Pulmonary
sarcoidosis. Clin. Chest Med. 18:755–785.

234. Reich, J. M., and R. E. Johnson. 1985. Course and prognosis of
sarcoidosis in a nonreferral setting: analysis of 86 patients observed for
10 years. Am. J. Med. 78:61–67.

[Emphasis added.]

Free full text available at
http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/reprint/160/2/736

I won't address the other assertions you made about the ACCESS Study here, but would enourage you to read the full text of the report.

Mike