There is an emerging evidence that many complex chronic diseases, including chronic fatigue syndrome, have strong autoimmune components to them.

Chemical sensitivities, also known as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), is a particular variant of heightened responsiveness to sensory input.

One emerging view is that the "old" term, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), may have been closer to the mark than anyone suspected. For people with severe post-exertional fatigue and for patients with fibromyalgia there is evidence of neuroinflammation with alterations of grey matter identified in nuclear medicine scans and other imaging techniques.

"Complex illness", sometimes called "medically unexplained illness", has proven one of the greatest unmet challenges of western orthodox medicine in the past century.

Prevention is the heart and soul of Integrative Medicine. Yes, as doctors and we are well trained in identifying diseases in treating symptomatically to relieve suffering. But that is only step one.

So why does modern Western Medicine focus so much on treatment of disease, by which time the best chance for lifestyle modification have been lost? That’s a complex question to answer.