At long last, the public health agencies are starting to act with proper regard for the seriousness of the disease

urbantravels 12 hours ago in reply to Clarke:

Why should it have ended months ago? That's a pretty strong statement to make. What do you base it on? Are you yourself a researcher, a doctor, or a patient who deals with this disease? When is the proper time to stop investigating a promising lead into a devastating illness - when you get tired of hearing about it?

Never mind the screeching of those who can't evaluate or accept new, negative data. I can assure you that they're not representative of all patients' attitudes, and they're not representative of the attitudes of respected, legitimate biomedical researchers who have worked hard trying to run down the XMRV leads as thoroughly as possible. The National Institutes of Health don't seem to agree with you either, having funded the Lipkin study and even expanded its scope. None of these efforts have been undertaken merely to placate hysterical, irrational patients who are clinging to a crazy fringe theory. All this research is a promising sign that, at long last, the public health agencies are starting to act with proper regard for the seriousness of the disease - which, by the way, includes not only a duty to try to help current patients, but also to attempt to protect the public health against new cases.

Yup, there are some patients who *are* hysterical and irrational. I feel sorry for them, even though the screeching hurts my ears too. But this group doesn't actually have the power to do anything *but* screech. Those of you who are still walking around with your careers and your lives intact practically have superpowers compared to us. Consider not only your power to point your browser somewhere else if you are irritated, but also the fact that your own continued freedom from this disease is not assured until the cause is found, before you favor us with your opinion about how silly this whole effort has been.