Uncovering the trigger of chronic illness Printer-Friendly Version
WSU professor’s new book suggests he’s come upon such a ‘disease paradigm’

By Kim Crompton

Longtime Washington State University biochemistry professor Martin L. Pall and his wife were forced to cut short a visit to Italy 10 years ago when Pall developed a bad case of shingles, a viral infection that causes rash and extreme pain.


“I came back in a wheelchair,” he says. “I was in bad shape. I ended up staying in bed for the next six weeks, pretty much.”


Pall says that the viral infection led to him developing chronic fatigue syndrome, a debilitating illness that in his case included extreme fatigue, persistent dizziness, and the loss of some cognitive function—a major pro*b*lem, he points out, for an academic.


He recovered fully from the illness after about a year and a half, but says the experience prompted him to dedicate the rest of his scientific career to understanding the mechanisms that cause such pervasive, yet poorly treated conditions.


That effort culminated this spring with his publication of a nearly 500-page book in which he postulates that a host of chronic illnesses have common triggering factors and result from essentially the same vicious biochemical cycle.


The book is titled “Explaining ‘Unexplained Illnesses’: Disease Paradigm for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Fibro*myalgia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Others,” and is published by Binghamton, N.Y.-based Haworth Press Inc.


The group of illnesses that his theory encompasses afflicts an estimated 7.4 percent of U.S. residents, most of them women, and causes an estimated economic loss of $400 billion a year due to unemployment and underemployment.


“We take most of our pleasures from either mental or physical activities, activities that often become impossible when one suffers from both cognitive dysfunction and fatigue, both very common symptoms in these illnesses,” Pall says. “When you add the intrusive nature of chronic pain, the losses become incalculable.”


Under his theory, which he calls the NO/ONOO cycle (pronounced no, oh no), the illnesses are triggered by one or more “stressors” that, in turn, raise the levels of nitric oxide (NO-) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-) in the body, and cause other physical responses.


The initiating stressors, he suggests, might include bacterial or viral infections, severe psychological stress, physical trauma, or exposure to one of several classes of chemicals.


The NO/ONOO cycle is touted in a press release about Pall’s book as the first theory to explain how the illnesses mentioned in its title are initiated, why they are chronic, and how their symptoms are generated.


“It also provides explanations for the perplexing phenomena they share, including why these diseases often overlap, why they are often accompanied by other illnesses (asthma, migraine, tinnitus, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis), and why symptoms and signs are so varied in individuals with the same disease,” the press release says.


Pall says in the press release that, “These misunderstood diseases are often, to the grave detriment of the patient, either woefully ignored or falsely labeled as psychosomatic.


“Their puzzling characteristics challenge the medical community’s conventional way of diagnosing disease, and therefore they are not adequately dealt with.”


Haworth Press publishes books and journals mostly for academic and professional audiences, but Pall says he believes his book also will attract the interest of some consumers who, for personal reasons, have the motivation to read it despite its technical focus.


So far, he says, “I’ve gotten extremely positive responses, by and large. I think people are really excited about it.”


Pall wrote the book mostly over a year-long sabbatical from WSU. The 1,200-copy first printing of it has sold out, and with the 1,000-copy second printing also selling well, the book “probably will go into a third (printing) shortly,” Pall says.


He emphasizes, though, that, “My goal was more in terms of trying to communicate the research, rather than (selling) some number of books. I think what’s more important is communicating to a lot of people, and it’s already been fairly successful in that.”


Dr. Joseph Teitelbaum, medical director for Addison, Texas-based Fibro*myalgia & Fatigue Centers Inc., and one of five people who provided testimonial comments for the book, describes it as “a brilliant treatise that brings us closer to a ‘unified field theory’ explaining the causes of poorly understood syndromes.”


Pall says he already has given a number of talks about the premise of his book, including in Europe and Mexico.


Though he’s heard little negative feedback so far, he says, “I think there’s no doubt that some people will raise questions about this,” and criticize his conclusions. He adds, though, “That’s not surprising. That’s part of science, and a very important part.”


Pall says he chose to write a book on the topic because he already has written a number of papers on it, and he adds, “When you write papers, they kind of get buried in the scientific research. They don’t stand out so much.” Also, he says, “There were so many aspects of this that I thought needed to be put together in one place” that it evolved into a 16-chapter manuscript.


He says he initially focused his research just on chronic fatigue syndrome, but expanded it to include other chronic conditions as he began to notice aspects about them that conformed with his theory, rather than conflicting with it.


He says he believes that the NO/ONOO cycle ultimately may help provide an explanation for other diseases with still uncertain causes, such as multiple sclerosis, autism, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease.


Pall argues that physicians should focus on treating the biochemical causes of the various diseases, rather than on relieving symptoms.


He says he is working with scientists around the globe to establish treatment protocols that involve various combinations of nutritional supplements, many of which are antioxidants, and conventional pharmaceuticals.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.
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