According to a story from healthrising.org, the pharmaceutical company Cortene has been in the process of developing a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, and a clinical trial to test the drug recently gained approval from the Independent Review Board and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company’s approach to the trial and the development of their treatment will be fundamentally different from previous attempts.
About Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known myalgic encephalomyelitis, is a condition in a which an affected person experiences long term periods of fatigue that cannot be relieved by rest or sleep. This fatigue can be debilitating and severely reduce a person’s ability to participate in daily activity. The syndrome is poorly understood, and the precise cause remains unknown; current theory points to a collection of psychological and physiological factors. Treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome has been a subject of controversy; many common approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise therapy, have received widespread criticism from the patient community, and appears to worsen symptoms in many cases. To learn more about chronic fatigue syndrome, click here.
Cortene’s Research
The drug in question is aimed at manipulating the body’s stress system, and is based on a couple of findings from Cortene’s own research into the mechanisms that appear to have an effect on chronic fatigue syndrome. Cortene came away with two major takeaways from its own theoretical exercise that was aimed at gaining a new understanding of the syndrome.
- Stress appears to have a modulating effect on all of the system impacted in the disease.
- An adaptive mechanism within the body’s stress response could, potentially, overreact to a stimulus that would normally be considered minor. The premise is that chronic fatigue syndrome is the result of an abnormal stress response.
The company conducted animal studies in order to test the hypothesis, and the results seemed to suggest that they were on to something. The drug is called CT38, and will be administered in three hour infusions on two separate days within a two week treatment period. Different dosage levels will be tested in the trial. Researchers hope that results will be consistent with the research and data that Cortene has gathered so far.
