Seabiscuit Author Overcame Debilitating Condition
Half a million people in the U.S., including the author of the best-selling book about the racehorse Seabiscuit, suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The new film "Seabiscuit" tells the inspiring, true story of a racehorse who beat the odds to become a winner. The movie is based on a book by author Laura Hillenbrand, who beat tremendous odds of her own. For more than a decade, Hillenbrand has suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or CFS, which often left her bedridden for months on end, sometimes too weak to write more than a few words a day.
Dr. Veeraindar Goli, medical director of Pain Evaluation and Treatment Services at Duke University Medical Center, says Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has physiological and psychological symptoms that mimic other diseases, and diagnosis can sometimes take years.
"Physicians are very reluctant to come up with a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome unless they eliminate everything else, and it's a long process of elimination sometimes."
CFS patients respond to different treatments, says Goli, including medication, physical therapy, herbal medicines and relaxation therapy.
"There's no one single drug that will work for everybody. Since it's a chronic condition, a multi-disciplinary treatment is the best outcome."