Pure EPA supplement essential for ME

It's a pity that the journalist responsible for a two-page feature on ME in The Times Weekender didn't even mention in passing a natural supplement that a London psychiatrist claims is essential for recovery from ME.

Bassant Puri makes another fundamental claim, namely, that anti-depressant drugs are not the right treatment. If it wasn't for my intervention in these columns, readers wouldn't have been made aware of Prof. Puri's claims.

Rebecca Sultana, of ME Sufferers, Malta continues to cast doubts on Prof. Puri's claims (June 11). Besides saying that VegEPA is his product (which is absolutely not the case - the British Medical Council would have struck him off the Medical Register for such unethical behaviour), she claims he himself doesn't credit this pure EPA supplement with recovery from ME. She also says the cause of ME is unknown, and that VegEPA is not the only product that helps alleviate ME symptoms.

The gist of what Prof. Puri is claiming is on the back cover of his book: "ME is almost certainly a condition resulting from viral and other influences that reduce essential chemicals in the body - EPA will be essential to recovery". Besides recommending changes in lifestyle to promote recovery, his book explains his claim that pure EPA (without DHA) achieves better recovery in ME (and also in depressive diseases) than other fish oil products, and that is why he recommends this specific product - it's the only one on the market with pure EPA.

His claim that over 80 per cent of his ME patients recover with VegEPA suggests that there is more than one mechanism operating in this nervous system disorder. Until more is known about ME, sufferers should read his book and try out VegEPA for at least three months - it has no unpleasant side-effects (as with so many pharmaceutical drugs) and, in my view, they have nothing to lose by performing this therapeutic trial on themselves. VegEPA and Prof.

Puri's book can be bought online from www.igennus.com. Ms Sultana's point that VegEPA can be acquired cheaper from www.thevegepaforme-scheme.com is useful.