Mitochondrial dysfunction in ME, but you will not hear this at the RSM conference...

31 March 2008
Hannah Poling Autism-Vaccine Case:
Implications for ME/CFS-labelled patients
By Lara
Abstract

"When Hannah Poling was 19 months old she was administered 9 vaccines simultaneously and just 48 hours afterwards, her health began to deteriorate. She developed a fever and her temperature soared to 38.9°C. She cried inconsolably, was irritable, lethargic and refused to walk.

Over the next 4 months her growth and movement decreased, rashes appeared on her abdomen and she began to display autistic behaviours including fixation on television, poor eye contact, spinning and disrupted sleep.

Tests and muscle biopsy carried out by her father (a neurologist at John Hopkins University in the USA) and his colleagues indicated specific genetic mutations in her mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA), Type 1 muscle fibre atrophy and abnormal levels of various metabolic products in her blood stream (elevated lactic acid, serum creatine kinase level, and aspartate aminotransferase). The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.

In 2007, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) made the decision to award the Poling family compensation from the federal vaccine injury fund after they conceded that immunisations given to her at 19 months old had aggravated a rare underlying mitochondrial condition that resulted in a brain disorder.

Faulty metabolic and mitochondrial processes are also well documented in patients labelled with ME/CFS and this may be due to an inherited mitochondrial disorder and/or exposure to environmental pollutants and/or pathogens with a particular toxicity for mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA).

This hypothesis may better account for symptoms than that of the ‘aberrant immune response’ to environments that normal controls are able to withstand.

The hypothesis that ‘stressors’ (including psychological stress) cause an aberrant immune response is not born out by patients’ experience with psychosocial treatments (e.g. tricyclic anti-depressants, CBT/GET). Patients have not reported positive results with such treatments in fact the opposite, with many claiming it made their symptoms worse.

This is not surprising if there is insufficient cellular energy available in the mitochondria to cope with the demands of exercise programmes and furthermore it is known that drugs such as Amitriptyline and Prozac can make mitochondrial functioning worse.

Combining exercise with such drugs therefore seems to be the worst possible treatment to offer those with underlying mitochondrial dysfunctions and poor energy production.

Cellular energy is produced inside the ‘mitochondria’, which are the cells’ power houses.

Various tests for metabolic and mitochondrial status are now available, some via the NHS but they are not all included in the NICE CFS/ME Guidelines. Some are available privately and have been shown to be predictive of the level of patient disability.

Dr Thomas Insel stated that:
‘when you have a genetic lesion in your mitochondrial DNA you′re likely to develop a whole range of problems due to environmental stressors.’

Even Prof. Simon Wessely has admitted, according to an attendee’s report of a lecture that he gave at Gresham College, London during January 2006, that some evidence had been found linking both the type and the quantity of vaccines administered to Gulf War soldiers with illness.

In particular, that the combination of the anthrax vaccines and pertussis (Whooping Cough) given to soldiers was ‘suspect’.

There are extensive studies of mitochondrial dysfunction in ME/CFS-labelled patients. The UK physician, Dr Melvin Ramsay, who first used the term Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) made a study with, Dr Alan Rundle, consultant pathologist at St Lawrence’s Hospital, Caterham, Surrey, UK published a study in the Postgraduate Medical Journal of December 1979.

The study looked at blood levels of serum myoglobin and various enzymes that showed a similar biochemical pattern to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Infections are known to cause oxidative stress regardless of any underlying genetic predisposition, and may account for the epidemic occurrence of ME/CFS. The concept of ‘mito-pathogens’ (mitoviruses, mitoviroids and mitobacteria) with a particular toxicity towards mitochondria have been proposed.

In addition some pathogens are ‘energy parasites’ and rapidly use ATP made by the mitochondria because they are unable to make their own. Examples include Chlamydia Pneumonaie (CPN), Rickettsial pathogens and certain viruses.

Utilisation of these available tests may be very useful for helping to establish that ME/CFS has been correctly diagnosed and relates to the cardinal feature of ‘exercise intolerance’ as outlined in both the Ramsay criteria and Canadian Guidelines.

In many instances patients turn to private testing to elucidate the abnormalities in their cases and access appropriate healthcare at their own expense. That patients are able to find abnormal test results when NICE assure doctors that if the recommended panel is negative, nothing further is necessary, is proof alone that the Guidelines on diagnosis are invalid if not dangerous.

These are some of the pivotal reasons why the NICE Guidelines for CFS/ME are being challenged via the One Click Judicial Review.

A particular testing profile for ATP and mitochondrial dysfunction has been available in the private sector for some years now. Dr John McClaren Howard, the former Laboratory Director of Biolab UK in London, developed this ‘ATP profile’ which looks at several parts of mitochondrial function including ATP production, recycle and presence of toxins.

These tests were commercially available from Biolab UK in London up until Dr McClaren-Howard’s retirement from Biolab in 2007. He now offers the tests through a new company called ‘Acumen’ based in the South West of England, UK. A GP referral is essential in order to be able to access the tests.

A patient advocate, Craig Robinson who collected and analysed these ATP results, found a high correlation with the level of patient disability as reported in his excellent Citizen’s paper.

Treatments
Care must be taken in prescribing treatments to those with mitochondrial or metabolic disease and dysfunctions and subsequent poor ATP production. Several reports of adverse events and fatalities of drugs including amitriptyline, Prozac and statins have appeared in patients with these conditions.

Now if you want to read the whole article, just click here..........

If you are wondering why the CBT Delusionists keep ignoring Clinical Evidence, just think ELEVEN Million times and more, and watch this video from the SIMONWESSELYSFANCLUB............