Top ten biomedical research findings in ME/CFS by Professor Komaroff

By Margaret Williams:

In the Summer 2008 issue of The CFIDS Chronicle published by The CFIDS Association of America, Anthony Komaroff, Professor of Medicine at Harvard, editor-in-chief of Harvard Health Publications and senior physician at Brigham and Womens’ Hospital, Boston (who has published more than 230 research papers on ME/CFS) wrote an article listing the top ten biomedical research findings in ME/CFS.

These are summarised at http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=14063 and include evidence that

(1) many patients with ME/CFS have no diagnosable psychiatric disorder and that ME/CFS is not a form of depression;

(2) there is a state of chronic, low-grade immune activation, with evidence of activated T cells and evidence of genes reflecting immune activation, as well as evidence of increased levels of cytokines;

(3) there is substantial evidence of poorly-functioning NK cells (white blood cells that are important in fighting viral infections);

(4) there is evidence of white and grey matter abnormalities in the brain;

(5) there is evidence of abnormalities in brain metabolism (and evidence of dysfunction of energy metabolism in the mitochondria);

(6) there is evidence of abnormalities in the neuroendocrine system, particularly in the HPA axis but also in the hypothalamic-prolactin axis and in the hypothalamic-growth hormone axis;

(7) there is evidence of cognitive difficulties, especially with information processing, memory and/or attention;

(8) there is evidence of abnormalities in the autonomic nervous system (including a failure to maintain blood pressure, abnormal responses of the heart rate, and unusual pooling of blood in the legs, as well as low levels of blood volume);

(9) there is evidence of disordered gene expression, especially in those genes that are important in energy metabolism and in genes connected to HPA axis activity, to the sympathetic nervous system and to the immune system;

(10) there is evidence of frequent infection with viruses, especially herpesvirus and enteroviruses.

Former top ME/CFS researcher at the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC), Dr Suzanne Vernon, stated ... Read more>>