By Bronc Dr. Amy Proal, of the PolyBio Research Foundation, is a microbiologist interested in the molecular mechanisms by which bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens dysregulate human gene expression, immunity and metabolism. She is especially interested in how dysfunction of the human microbiome and/or the human virome can contribute to chronic inflammatory disease processes. We sat down with Dr. Amy
Continue
By Bronc It was a warm summer evening and I was looking forward to watching one of my favourite films, when I received a text from my best friend. I expected the text to be a question asking me what film I was going to watch. Instead, he informed me that the night before he had attempted to kill himself.
Continue
By Bronc Late last year Dr. Dane Cook, along with Dr. Jacob Lindheimer and colleagues, published a systematic review of research looking at pain as a component of post-exertional malaise (PEM) — which is also known as post-exertional symptom exacerbation (PESE). As seen with other components of PEM/PESE, any pain seemed to be delayed by 8-72 hours after exertion. Interestingly,
Continue
Dr. William Weir is a retired physician who has treated ME/CFS patients for many years. He has spent the last few years advising the U.K. government’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and has recently authored an article about dogma and science. Image courtesy of Dr. William Weir. by Bronc Dr. William Weir is a retired infectious disease
Continue
by Bronc Dr. Mark Zinn and his late wife Dr. Marcie Zinn co-founded the NeuroCognitive Research Institute. He has expertise in quantitative and tomographic methods of electro-encephalographic analysis, in order to test theoretical premises in research involving neurocognitive disorders. From 2011-2014 he served as research consultant at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he studied cognitive impairment in infection-associated chronic
Continue
From the central nervous system to Long COVID to energy impairment, Dr. Anthony Komaroff provides his perspective on over 30 years of scientific research into myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and post-acute viral illnesses. Versión en español • Version française • Nederlandse versie • Deutsche Version By Bronc and Eric Pyrrhus Dr. Anthony Komaroff is really on a roll. For a sometimes
Continue
On August 8th our ME community honours Severe ME Understanding and Remembrance Day, this year and every year. Rachel M. shares her thoughts on living with Very Severe ME … By Rachel M. Hello. I’m Rachel from Queensland, Australia. I live with Very Severe ME. My Very Severe ME is clinically confirmed, according to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis International Consensus Primer for Medical
Continue
In Spain, patients with neuroimmune diseases such as fibromyalgia or myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) have been disgusted at their government’s refusal to recognize them as seriously disabled human beings. This week brought news of a big step forward. By Eric Pyrrhus Versión en español • Version française • Deutsche Version In 2019 the Spanish government agency that oversees
Continue
Remembering the Legacy of Awareness Day Founder Tom Hennessy, Jr. by Jody Smith I have written a few articles about May 12 over the years and usually I focus on the events and groups involved in this special ME/CFS date. I’ve always thought that it’s important that we tell our stories but this year, I’ve been struck by the importance of
Continue
A Conversation with Professor Leonard Jason and Madeline Johnson By Bronc Dr. Leonard A. Jason is a professor of psychology and Director of the Center for Community Research at DePaul University in Chicago, USA. He has a long history of research in the field of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). His most recent books include: The Psychology of Peace
Continue
by Jody Smith I’m Canadian, so I hear a lot of good-natured jokes about how Canadians apologize all the time. It’s funny in part because … in part, it’s true. But you know who else apologizes a lot? Chronically ill people. And that ain’t so funny. Now some of us were probably like that before becoming ill. But what’s particularly
Continue
May 12, 2020: It’s Our International ME/CFS and FM Awareness Day by Jody Smith On May 12, our International ME/CFS and FM Awareness Day, I tend to look back over the years since I was first flattened by ME/CFS. Things changed for the better for me when I found my community. I’d already lived with ME/CFS for 17 years by
Continue