Dedra Buchwald

Dedra Buchwald, MD is a primary care physician, professor of the College of Medicine at Washington State University, and the director of the Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health. She is currently studying chronic disease in American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Buchwald was president of the American Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, now called the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis from 1998 to 2001 and the chairperson for that organization’s January 2001, Fifth International Conference in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.

Dr. Buchwald's experience goes back to the 1980's, where in 1988, Dr. Buchwald established the Chronic Fatigue Clinic at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Waashington. In 1995, Dr Buchwald headed the Seattle Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Cooperative Research Center, a center partially funded by a National Institutes of Health grant.

Awards

 * 2004, Rudy Perpich Senior Lectureship Award, presented to a distinguished CFS/FM scientist, physician or healthcare worker awarded by IACFS/ME

Notable studies

 * 2012, The Comorbidity of Self-Reported Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Traumatic Symptoms (FULL TEXT)"'Abstract - Background: Data from primary care and community samples suggest higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Objective: This study investigated the co-occurrence of CFS, PTSD, and trauma symptoms and assessed the contribution of familial factors to the association of CFS with lifetime PTSD and current traumatic symptoms. Method: Data on lifetime CFS and PTSD, as measured by self report of a doctor’s diagnosis of the disorder, and standardized questionnaire data on traumatic symptoms, using the Impact of Events Scale (IES), were obtained from 8,544 female and male twins from the community-based University of Washington Twin Registry. Results: Lifetime prevalence of CFS was 2% and lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 4%. Participants who reported a history of PTSD were over 8 times more likely to report a history of CFS. Participants with scores ≥ 26 on the IES were over 4 times more likely to report CFS than those who had scores ≤ 25. These associations were attenuated but remained significant after adjusting for familial factors through within-twin pair analyses. Conclusion: These results support similar findings that a lifetime diagnosis of CFS is strongly associated with both lifetime PTSD and current traumatic symptoms, although familial factors such as shared genetic and environmental contributions played a limited role in the relationship between CFS, PTSD, and traumatic symptoms. These findings suggest that future research should investigate both the familial and the unique environmental factors that may give rise to both CFS and PTSD.'"
 * 2007, Body Mass Index and Fatigue Severity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"'Abstract - Background: It is uncertain how much fatigue is related to weight in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Objective: To assess the association of body mass index (BMI) and fatigue in CFS patients. Methods: Consecutive patients seen in a referral-based specialty clinic were eligible if they met CFS criteria and had completed required measures. Fatigue measures were the vitality subscale of the Medical Outcomes Short-Form 36 and the global fatigue index from the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue. Results: In women, there was no relationship between BMI and vitality subscale or global fatigue index scores (P = 0.99 and P = 0.44). For men, vitality subscale scores significantly decreased as BMI increased (P = 0.02). Conclusions: In CFS patients, the prevalence of obesity was low despite risk factors for weight gain. Fatigue severity and BMI were unrelated in women with CFS, but this relationship may differ for men.'"
 * 2007, Prospective Study of Body Mass Index, Weight Change, and Fatigue in Acute Infectious Mononucleosis"'Abstract - Objective: To examine the influence of body mass index (BMI) and weight change on fatigue severity and failure to recover in individuals with acute infectious mononucleosis. Methods: We prospectively studied 148 individuals presenting with a positive monospot test. We obtained measured weights and vitality subscale scores from the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) at the index visit and at 6 months. Results: The mean age of the participants was 21 years and 24% were overweight or obese. During acute illness, overweight and obese participants had an adjusted odds ratio for low vitality scores of 2.9 (confidence interval 1.2–7.1) compared to normal weight subjects. Neither index BMI nor 6-month weight gain was significantly associated with prolonged fatigue or failure to recover. Conclusion: Overweight and obese patients with acute infectious mononucleosis are more likely to experience severe fatigue. In contrast, neither baseline weight nor weight gain appear to impede recovery.'"
 * 2006, Mortality in a cohort of chronically fatigued patients (Abstract)
 * 2004, Post-traumatic stress disorder among patients with chronic pain and chronic fatigue (Abstract)
 * 2003, Single-photon emission computerized tomography and neurocognitive function in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (Abstract)
 * 2000, Acute infectious mononucleosis: Characteristics of patients who report failure to recover (Abstract - full text upon request)
 * 2001, A twin study of chronic fatigue (Abstract)
 * 1996, Race and Ethnicity in Patients with Chronic Fatigue [(Abstract - full text upon request)
 * 1992, A chronic illness characterized by fatigue, neurologic and immunologic disorders, and active human herpesvirus type 6 infection (Full text)

Online presence

 * PubMed

Learn more

 * "Seattle Doctor, Dedra Buchwald, Performs Unique Twin Research" by John Addington in ProHealth
 * Partners 4 Native Health, Washington State University Bio page
 * Northwest Center for Public Health Practice Faculty page