D-ribose effective in improving QOL in energy-depleted patients with FMS/CFS

Jul 17 2012

A new multicenter study published in The Open Pain Journal (2012, 5, 32-37)  showed that daily consumption of the pentose carbohydrate D-ribose (Corvalen™: 5 grams, 3 times a day over 3 weeks) resulted in an average energy boost of 61 percent among patients diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FMS). In addition, sleep, pain, mental clarity and overall well-being improved. The study, headed by board certified internist Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, involved 257 people with (CFS) and FMS from 53 different health clinics.

The research showed that consuming D-ribose led to both statistically (p<.0001) and clinically highly significant average improvements in all categories:

• 61.3 % increase in energy
• 37% increase in overall well-being
• 29.3% improvement in sleep
• 30% improvement in mental clarity
• 15.6% decrease in pain

These findings confirmed results of an earlier pilot study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2006:12 (9):857-862), involving 36 patients from a single medical center, who took D-ribose for an average of 25 days.  Approximately 66% of patients experienced significant improvement while on D-ribose, with an average increase in energy of 45% and an average improvement in overall well-being of 30% (p<.0001).

The purpose of the new study was to reconfirm the efficacy of D-ribose for improving the quality of life in energy-depleted patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FMS) and/or CFS, and to see if the results could be generalized to the CFS and FMS community as a whole.

"Today we're facing a human energy crisis of major proportions. Reflecting this, the prevalence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and its painful cousin fibromyalgia has grown dramatically in recent years," said lead researcher Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, author of the bestselling From Fatigued to Fantastic! (Avery Penguin).  "FMS affects between 3-6 million and CFS affects over 1 million Americans, mirrored by comparable numbers in at least 5 European countries."

According to Dr. Teitelbaum, D-ribose provides the key building block for producing the "energy molecule" adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in every cell. ATP levels have been found to be 80 percent higher in healthy vs. CFS patients.  "Our hypothesis all along has been that giving D-ribose to people with CFS/FMS will jump-start their mitochondrial energy furnaces. We're pleased that the larger multicenter trial corroborated our earlier study, showing the same benefits for fibromyalgia and CFS patients from multiple locations."