Does CFS/ME Lead To Alzheimer’s?

June 14, 2012 / Charles W. Lapp, MD / Ask The Doctor

Deborah B asked, “Do the concentration and memory deficits in CFS/ME lead to Alzheimer’s?”

A: The short answer is “no.”

The cognitive deficits in CFS/ME include slow processing, poor recall, reduced attention and distractibility. These deficits wax and wane over time, and do not appear to be permanent. As PWCs improve their cognitive issues tend to resolve.

Alzheimer’s on the other hand is caused by actual and permanent damage in the brain due to amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. It is a degenerative and hereditary condition. This leads to confusion, memory loss, agnosia (not recognizing objects), aphasia (unable to express ideas), and apraxia (difficulty with fine motor activity, like buttoning a shirt ). Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum describes the difference like this: “Persons with CFS will misplace the keys, but persons with Alzheimer’s don’t know what the keys are for.”

I am not aware of any correlation of CFS/ME with Alzheimer’s Disease.

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Dr. Hillman was born and reared in Utica, New York. He attended college at Clarkson University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering, and then spent two years toward a master’s degree in biochemistry/oncology at the University of Buffalo’s Roswell Park Division, where he did research in leukemia. Dr. Hillman attended St. George’s University School of Medicine, and completed his clinical years at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, graduating in 1996. During the Summer of 1994 he also did research at the University of Buffalo Dental School using PCR technology on RNA subtyping of gram negative oral bacteria. Following medical school, Hillman went on to a Family Practice Residency at North Shore / Long Island Jewish Hospital in Bay Shore, NY.

After his residency, Dr. Hillman worked for the US Army at the West Point Military Academy (Keller Army Hospital family practice unit), worked in the Emergency Room and hospital admitting areas, and ran a private practice as well. From 2005-2006 he also worked at the Winn Army Hospital at Fort Stewart, GA, before setting up a private Family Practice in Huntersville, NC in 2007. In addition to his private practice Dr. Hillman also has an interest in helping clients with disabilities. He has worked for ProMed Urgent Care in Occupational Medicine and performed over 13,000 examinations for Social Security Disability.

Dr. Hillman has a family member with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so he has a long standing interest and empathy with the disorder! He is married and has two sons and a daughter. The family lives in Huntersville.