About the Book
Has the mystery of ME/CFS finally been solved?
For decades, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) has remained a medical enigma-misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and often dismissed. But breakthrough research might finally be changing that.
In this accessible and hopeful guide, ME/CFS patient Patrick Ussher distills the groundbreaking work of Professors Klaus Wirth and Carmen Scheibenbogen, who have proposed a compelling unifying model of ME/CFS. This new understanding brings together multiple dysfunctions-low blood volume, microclots, mitochondrial damage, autoimmunity, and more-into one interconnected cycle. It may, at last, explain why so many suffer from post-exertional malaise, brain fog, and relentless fatigue.
More than just theory, this book offers practical healing strategies:
Breathing techniques like the Buteyko Method
Ancestral nutrition and gut repair
Microclot treatment options
The Perrin technique
Promising future medications-especially the new 'Mitodicure' pill, which could become the first drug specifically for ME/CFS
Patrick also shares his own story of living with ME/CFS and what has helped him most-physically and emotionally. His goal is simple: to empower fellow patients with knowledge, practical tools, and renewed hope.
Whether you have ME/CFS or Long Covid, this book will help you understand your illness-and imagine a life beyond it.
Includes a foreword by Prof. Klaus Wirth who is developing the 'Mitodicure' pill.
About the Author :
Patrick Ussher has had ME/CFS for seven years. He has a YouTube channel, 'Understanding ME-CFS', in which he talks about the research into ME/CFS and Long Covid in an accessible way and in which he shares treatment strategies that he has tried. He has also written a medical hypothesis on the potential causes of excessive thirst in ME/CFS and Long Covid and why this symptom has likely been historically misdiagnosed as 'psychogenic water drinking' (available as a free download from: www.themythofprimarypolydipsia.com). He also gives regular talks to patient groups such as The Irish ME Trust and has written for the ME/CFS blog, Health Rising, on various topics. Patrick has also written a book which compares Stoicism and Buddhism (Stoicism and Western Buddhism: A Reflection on Two Philosophical Ways of Life) and edited several books on modern-day applications of Stoic philosophy (Stoicism Today: Selected Writings, Volumes One & Two). In 2018, he worked with Columba Press to publish a new version of his late mother's book on coping with breast cancer, titled: 'Following the Pink Ribbon Path'. He has a BA and MA in Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin) from The University of Exeter. He is also the composer of music in a contemporary classical style and is part of the online Artlist catalogue. His music can be listened to on Spotify. Patrick is from Ireland and has lived in both Ireland and France over the course of his illness. Prof. Dr. Klaus Wirth, Medical Doctor, PhD, has served as Chief Scientific Officer and Managing Director of Mitodicure since 2022. He was previously Senior Researcher at Sanofi in Germany which he joined in 1984. Klaus worked as a pharmacologist in the fields of cardiovascular, bradykinin antagonism, cerebral blood flow, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmias, sodium-calcium exchanger NCX blockers, endocrinology, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, dysphagia, and immunology. Approximately 70 patents are attributable to his work, as well as five clinical developmental projects, one of which Firazyr(TM), a drug for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema, has reached the market. Klaus was co-founder of KOSA Pharma GmbH. He is adjunct professor at the Institute of Pharmacology at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.
Review :
'I have been strongly impressed by the high scientific level of Patrick's writings on ME/CFS, particularly considering his non-medical background and the short time that he could have worked on this area. I welcome the publication of his book which seeks particularly to explain the research by myself and Prof. Scheibenbogen in an accessible way for a patient audience, as well as talking about other facets of the illness and ways to improve quality of life.'
Prof. Klaus Wirth - from the Foreword.
" In Understanding ME/CFS & Strategies for Healing, Patrick Ussher skillfully integrates a huge amount of research that at first glance looks unrelated. From it, he communicates a unique and compelling hypothesis about what is going on in ME/CFS and how to recover. Ussher supplements the science with his own personal journey of improvement and that of other patients. Understanding ME/CFS is a respectful, balanced and very readable book for both practitioners and lay readers".
Dr. Eleanor Stein MD FRCP(C), Canadian physician with 35+ years-experience in the field and former ME/CFS patient. Online educator for ME/CFS and related illnesses.
" I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone seeking to enhance their quality of life or to better understand possible pathways to improvement for conditions like ME/CFS, Long COVID, or other post-acute infection syndromes. Patrick Ussher's work is a beacon of hope, offering both scientific understanding and tangible solutions for those in need."
Prof. Peter Deen, Professor in Metabolic Physiology of the Radboud university, Nijmegen, The Netherlands and CEO of Streasure4Health, a start-up developing diagnostics for ME/CFS, Long Covid and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes
'I had many light bulb moments reading this book and would highly recommend it for those living with ME/CFS or Long Covid, their families, carers and health professionals. For those with cognitive dysfunction, the chapter summaries are also extremely helpful to refer to.'
Julie Taylor, The Living with Long Covid Podcast
'Understanding ME/CFS & Strategies for Healing offers one patient's view through the long grass which has grown around an illness badly served by medical dogmatists, and it is a view which readers have much to learn from. It could herald a sea change in how ME/CFS is researched, managed, treated... and, just possibly, cured.'
George Winter, The Medical Independent
