Stony Brook Professor Receives NIH Grant for Chronic Fatigue Management Program

Medical Center & Health Care

Stony Brook Professor Receives NIH Grant for Chronic Fatigue Management Program
The Program Involves Stress Reduction Techniques, Social Support

STONY BROOK, N.Y., October 17, 2011 – Fred Friedberg, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, through the State University of New York Research Foundation, received a $600,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue testing a home-based self management program for people with chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
 The NIH grant runs for two years, effective until the end of August 2013. In 2008, Dr. Friedberg, Principal Investigator, received an initial one-year $100,000 NIH grant to launch the home-based self management program for chronic fatigue and CFS patients, with the expectation to learn how to help patients more effectively manage their conditions.
 “There are no effective and established medical treatments for these illnesses, and the behavioral program is intended to help patients function and feel better,” says Dr. Friedberg, pointing out that the causes of chronic fatigue and CFS are still unknown.
 CFS remains a controversial illness. Yet, the NIH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have designated CFS as an important public health issue and recognize the need to better define, diagnose and treat the illness. For more on CFS, see this CDC link.
 “Cognitive-behavioral treatment, a type of stress management training combined with low level exercise, has shown promise to help people with CFS cope better and lessen illness severity,” explains Dr. Friedberg. “This ongoing study tests a home-based version of cognitive-behavioral treatment that is based on a self-help model of illness management. We also want to see if this type of intervention saves health care costs, an important issue because of the ever increasing expenditures for health care.”
 The self-help program involves lifestyle change and stress reduction techniques, including graduated ...

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