Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) Research
Simon McGrath recently secured an interview with the world famous Dr Ian Lipkin – a scientist who continues to believe that ME/CFS has a physical cause – to discover more about his plans for a major study of the gut microbiome and to find out why he’s asking the patient community for its support… Dr W. Ian Lipkin has demonstrated
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Andrew Gladman takes a brief look at what cytokines are and how they might relate to our disease – exploring some of the research that is indicating their involvement in disease pathways… In recent years ME/CFS research has turned the spotlight on several areas, such as autoimmunity, the cardiovascular system and the autonomic nervous system. While it is fair to
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Bugs are not all bad, in fact many in our gut are essential to good health, but problems with these could help explain some diseases, possibly even ME/CFS. Simon McGrath takes an introductory look at the Microbiome – an area that is fast becoming a focus for several research teams looking at our own illness… The microbiome – the bugs
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A concluding article for the ‘In Brief…’ Series, summing up the previous articles which attempted to explain the science behind fairly common topics and exploring how they relate to ME – by Andrew Gladman. Over the past few weeks and months I’ve been busily researching, evaluating and writing the series of articles under the subheading of ‘In Brief…’. The original idea
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The fifth and final article in a series attempting to explain the science behind fairly common topics and exploring how they relate to ME/CFS. This time the topic is the nervous system – by Andrew Gladman. The nervous system, specifically the autonomic nervous system, is frequently discussed in relation to ME/CFS, with quite a plethora of research being targeted in this
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The fourth in a series of short articles attempting to explain the science behind fairly common topics and exploring how they relate to ME. This time the topic is the Cardiovascular System – by Andrew Gladman. The cardiovascular system is not one that is commonly discussed in relation to ME, and yet it is an area that research has shown displays
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The third in a series of short articles attempting to explain the science behind fairly common topics and exploring how they relate to ME. This time the topic is Mitochondria – by Andrew Gladman. Over the years it is fairly safe to say that finding consistent physiological abnormalities in ME has proven difficult for researchers, and that this has likely reinforced
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The first in a new series of short articles attempting to explain the science behind fairly common topics and exploring how they relate to ME. This time we delve into the complex and somewhat controversial world of viruses – by Andrew Gladman. I think it safe to say that no topic is quite as disputed as the role that viruses might
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The CDC PCOCA telephone broadcast on 10 September 2013, featured a lengthy presentation from Dr Ian Lipkin who revealed some stunning initial results from the study that is primarily hunting for pathogens in ME/CFS. Simon McGrath and Russell Fleming (Firestormm) review this exciting and possibly game-changing news… Read the full Lipkin Transcript: Here. Dr Ian Lipkin has been a human
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Andrew Gladman explores the current research climate of ME/CFS, discussing how existing research ties into the emerging autoimmune hypothesis. Throughout the history of ME it is safe to say that understanding of the condition and the research itself has been somewhat fractured at best and lacking significance in many areas. In the last 30 years, following the Lake Tahoe outbreak which piqued the
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The first in a new series of (mercifully) short pieces on recent research. By Simon McGrath A new study used data from the large PACE Trial to see if CBT and Graded exercise (GET) improved ME/CFS pain. (The main trial itself found a moderate effect of CBT and GET on self-reported fatigue and function.) The study looked at muscle and
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by Sasha The charity Invest in ME’s plans for a UK Rituximab trial got a substantial boost at the end of July when Jonathan Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Connective Tissue Medicine at University College London (UCL), agreed to act as their advisor for the study. ‘No UK expert is better placed than Professor Edwards to advise us on setting up
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