A 46-year-old white male came lo The Center with a three year history of severe fatigue,"body achiness", sweating spells, progressive memory loss or "forgetfulness" and depression. His regular physician had diagnosed chronic fatigue syndrome secondary to Epstein-Barr virus infection, hypertension and chronic sleep apnea (he was overweight). The patient stated that his career and family life has suffered greatly as a result of his conditions.

He was taking several medications for pain which made his fatigue worse. A significant finding from his history was that one of his hobbies is shooting, and he had cast his own lead bullets for many years. A "serum" lead level performed two years ago was normal. Laboratory examination included a serum chemistry profile, complete urinalysis, urine porphobilinogen and complete blood count. All were normal except for a high urine specific gravity (perhaps indicating dehydration). Red blood cell fatty acids, magnesium and zinc, urine pyrroles, urine potassium/sodium ratio, vitamin B complex saturation and vitamins A, C, and E were also normal. The buffy coat, vitamin C and AM cortisol were low. Interesting findings included a very low RBC chromium while a diagnostic chelation revealed an extremely high post chelation lead excretion. High lead levels were also present in his hair sample.