Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) Research
Posted by Cort Johnson In a year of intriguing studies this is one of the more intriguing. Stress has been something of a keynote in CFS research lately and researchers now regularly employ different kinds of stress tests to provoke abnormalities in patients. But does this unusual response to stress make its way all into the DNA of our cells?
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson (Outbreaks of ‘CFS’ do happen but they are rarely documented now. In this article, Oceanblue from the Phoenix Rising Forums, examines a Giardia outbreak in Norway which resulted, years later, with a significant number of people suffering from a chronic fatigue/pain condition- CJ.) A new study reports at least 5% of patients with CFS nearly 3
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson Background The biggest finding in CFS history (XMRV) didn’t work out and the most revered group in CFS history, the WPI, has troubles of its own, but ME/CFS research community emerged in better shape with more new projects and more new faces than ever before. Yes, ME/CFS is still a fringe topic receiving abysmal funding from
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson The Best of Times/The Worst of Times – 2011 will no doubt go down as the craziest year in ME/ CFS history. Nothing could replace the excitement of the XMRV discovery or erase the letdown at its downfall but as the new initiatives popped up it was as if the medical gods sought some balance for
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson Just fours days after the editors of Science took it upon themselves to retract the 2008 Science paper, Lo/Alter, the authors of the FDA study at one time championed as proof that a family of XMRV-like viruses was present in ME/CFS, have retracted their PNAS findings as well. In their conclusion to be published next week
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson (Evidence for a heritable predisposition to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Albright F, Light K, Light A, Bateman L, Cannon-Albright LA. BMC Neurol. 2011 May 27;11:62. Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center, Department of Pharmacotherapy, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, USA. frederick.albright@pharm.utah.edu) The ‘wastebasket diagnosis’ hypothesis has bedeviled the chronic fatigue syndrome field for years. That hypothesis subscribes to the idea that ME/CFS is simply a dumping
ContinuePosted by Cort Johnson (My apologies! (Another CFS moment…) The last blog contained a draft on the first story – not the completed version. Thanks for your patience….) When it rains it pours. Events regarding XMRV, Dr. Mikovits and the WPI have come hot and heavy during the last week. WPI’s Civil Lawsuit Against Dr. Mikovits – First some background. Dr.
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson I can promise we will be providing cutting edge research and care, and educating providers like never before. Dr. Nancy Klimas Dr. Klimas recently left the University of Miami to head up a new Institute dedicated to researching chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Gulf War Illness at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Klimas worked at the Univ.
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson Last week a notice from the University of Miami stating that after 27 years Dr. Klimas’s doors at the University would close sent something of a shock wave through the ME/CFS community. The idea that a significant CFS researcher, physician and advocate had perhaps lost her academic base was more than disturbing – but that announcement
ContinuePosted by Cort Johnson It’s hard to beat a three for one deal – you put a dollar in for ME/CFS research and the McGrath Family Foundation will match it with three more dollars. It’s particularly hard to ignore when it’s going to a research team with a proven record of success. The CAA’s research team is nothing if not
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson In Part II of the XMRV section of the conference we look at the Coffin/Mikovits presentations, Hanson’s update on her XMRV work and look at the recent XMRV research findings. The pMLVs Strike Out – Hanson Disavows Former Results “The sensitivity of the PCR assays used requires extreme caution in interpreting results Dr. Maureen Hanson” Background
Continue
Posted by Cort Johnson Pt. IA: XMRV: the Big Test – the Blood Working Study (Taken From the Ottawa Conference/CFIDS Association Webinar) The Blood Working Group was a large group (25) made of federal officials from various agencies (CDC, NIH, FDA), the Red Cross, several laboratories including the WP, several Universities and put together just a month after the XMRV
Continue