Book Review: Adrenal Fatigue
The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L Wilson N.D., D.C., Ph.D., Smart Publications 2001
This book is written by a practitioner of natural medicine who holds 3 Doctorate degrees (in Human nutrition, Chiropractic and Naturopathy) and 2 Master’s degrees (in Bionutrition and Experimental psychology). He has wide clinical experience having worked in practice as a naturopath for over a quarter of a century - currently in Tucson, Arizona - and also lectures widely.
This book addresses a problem that the author regards as being of 'monstrous proportions' that is not recognised by conventional medicine and offers the reader a self-help guide to recovering from adrenal fatigue.
The book is written in a very accessible way and peppered with real life stories, cartoons and illustrations and is divided into four parts. In part 1 the causes of adrenal fatigue are discussed and part 2 offers some self-help assessment tools. Part 3 offers a guide to recovering from adrenal fatigue and part 4 presents a reference section on the role of the adrenal glands.
The signs of adrenal fatigue
Dr Wilson points out that the many disparate conditions for which corticosteroids are prescribed gives an indication of the function of the adrenal glands. According to the Physicians' Desk Reference these include treatment of diseases and disorders of the:
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Skin and mucous membranes
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Heart and blood
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Respiratory tract and lung
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Gastrointestinal tract
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Eyes
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Nervous system
and also in the treatment of:
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Swelling and inflammation
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Allergies
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Cancer
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Viral infections
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Immune and autoimmune disorders.
Although people suffering with adrenal fatigue may look fairly normal, they feel generally unwell and 'grey' and may suffer with allergies, arthritis and a poor immune response and those with extreme adrenal fatigue may only be able to function for a few hours each day.
The adrenal fatigue alters the sufferers' gastrointestinal function and the way their body handles carbohydrates, fats and proteins and converts them into energy changing their body shape as excess fat is deposited around their middle and on the sides of their face.
Their blood sugar regulation is typically poor and they may get shaky when hungry and have often have adopted a strategy of trying to keep themselves going using stimulants. Their fluid and electrolyte balance, heart and cardiovascular system and sex drive are all affected. In women, adrenal fatigue is a primary cause of premenstrual tension (PMT) and difficult menopause.
Adrenal fatigue also affects the sufferers' mental state with increased fear, depression, intervals of confusion, difficulty concentrating and less acute memory recall. They also become more irritable, more easily frustrated and may suffer with insomnia. To others the sufferers may appear either lazy or unmotivated, when in fact internally they are driving themselves hard just to function.
Adrenal fatigue can either worsen or be the cause of respiratory infection(s), allergies, rhinitis, asthma, frequent colds, fibromyalgia, C.F.S., hypoglycaemia, adult onset diabetes, autoimmune disorder and/or alcoholism.
The causes of adrenal fatigue
Dr Wilson states that adrenal fatigue is caused by stress which may be a cataclysmic event or events such as the death of a loved one or severe infection (most of the people who died in the 1918 flu epidemic were later determined at autopsy to have died of adrenal exhaustion).
Alternatively, he cites the accumulated stresses of:
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Dental infections
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Acute or chronic infections such as bronchitis, pneumonia or sinusitis
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Workplace, familial and/or marital stress
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Allergies such as asthma
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Overexertion
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Smoking
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Lack of sleep
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Poor nutrition and eating habits eg: sugar/white flour
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Wound healing
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Lack of - or excessive - exercise
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Prescription or non-prescription drugs
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Caffeine
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Fears and anxieties
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Unwanted unemployment
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Negative beliefs and/or attitudes
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A lack of relaxation
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Financial pressure(s) and
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Toxins
Many adrenal fatigue sufferers are perfectionists and the problem is endemic within certain professions such as the police, physicians, people doing shift work and the stresses involved in middle management posts.
Adrenal fatigue does not exist!
Adrenal fatigue is not recognised by the licensing boards of conventional medicine in the US, the insurance or pharmaceutical industries. Most doctors are so concerned about malpractice suits that they stick within the prevailing orthodoxy for self-protection. There is also no International Classification of Disease (ICD) coding for adrenal fatigue which is a listing of all recognised medical conditions and a code is required by insurers in order to make a claim. Physicians do, however, recognise an extreme form of adrenal stress known as Addison’s disease.
Although the problem of adrenal fatigue has been recognised for a long time in natural medicine, physicians in the US were forbidden by law until 1992 from associating in any way with practitioners of alternative medicine who they termed ‘quacks’. All of this means that adrenal fatigue - as far as conventional medicine is concerned - does not exist. And yet, doctors are mystified when 75% of their patients complain either of a profound fatigue or of being 'tired all the time'!. He quotes his colleague, Dr Leo Roy as saying:
"Doctors are down on the things they are not up on."
Wilson offers a several home testing techniques for adrenal fatigue and also discusses the various different laboratory tests and the fact that results can be skewed by, for example, the use of HRT patches.
A history of adrenal fatigue
Oddly enough, you would have been more likely to have been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue 50 years ago and the condition has certainly been documented for over 100 years!
In fact, Sir William Osler first identified the most extreme form of adrenal fatigue - Addison's disease - in 1898. This was treated successfully with bovine adrenal extract to give the body all the nutrients it required to rebuild the adrenal glands. This was commercially manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly from 1930 until 1968 when synthetic corticosteroids became available.
Corticosteroids were much more powerful and were rapidly adopted by physicians in spite of the fact that they made the underlying problem worse by causing the adrenal glands to atrophy further rather than rebuilding them so that they could resume effective hormone production.
Recovering from adrenal fatigue
In Part 3, Dr Wilson addresses ways in which you can help yourself back to health including advice about lifestyle, food intolerances, dietary supplements, adrenal cell extracts and replacement hormones. He also gives practical tips for dealing with financial and emotional issues, an unhappy work or home environment, prescription drugs and the use of stimulants.
Dr Wilson offers plenty of practical advice on what to eat, what not to eat and when to eat. Also on handling emotional stressors, obtaining enough rest and sleep and supplements.
In short, this book contains lots of practical advice in a very accessible fashion from an expert on the subject.
Whilst Dr Wilson mentions the role of toxins in the causation of adrenal fatigue, in my opinion he underestimates the importance of this factor stressing the emotional causes of adrenal gland dysfunction. I believe there is an interplay between stress, emotions and toxins in a way that we do not currently understand and that the adrenal glands are primary targets for many toxins - including chronic mercury poisoning from dental amalgam fillings - as they are both clusters of nerve tissue and of endocrine tissue which are the two types of tissue that accumulate mercury most readily.
Further resources
To buy a copy of Adrenal Fatigue click the appropriate link for Amazon UK
or US
or to go to James Wilson's website.
The subject of adrenal and thyroid insufficiency and restoring proper glandular function is covered in some detail in Chronic Fatigue, M.E. and Fibromyalgia: The Natural Recovery Plan.
“This is an incredibly powerful book that will be invaluable for all those with chronic fatigue and will enable them to recover from this devastating illness.”
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