j374
Joined 10 years ago
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37
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6
Member since
Sep 22
Recent submissions
Comment · 10 years ago
Maybe I am misinterpreting your second point, but there are absolutely unique and consistent dysfunctions of ME/CFS sufferers. One example is severe exertion intolerance - this is not present in most other diseases. Generally, if we exercise more than a small amount we are literally bedridden (sometimes hospitalised) for days or weeks. It's often used as one of the diagnostic criteria. Psychological illnesses generally respond very well to exercise, and ME/CFS doesn't. It's a good way to rule out ME/CFS. There are also consistent immunological abnormalities (low NK cells for example), and recently the metabolomics study.
Comment · 10 years ago
The symptoms, abnormalities, triggers and cures match perfectly with what you would expect from exhaustion due to chronic stress.
If you didn't know it was caused by a virus, you could say the same thing about having the flu, most autoimmune diseases, etc. ME/CFS causes many consistent and characteristic symptoms that aren't fatigue, and most other chronic diseases cause fatigue. Why should ME/CFS be psychosomatic any more than any other illness for which we don't know the cause?
Comment · 10 years ago
Weird, works for me on a fresh browser. If you can't access it I can upload elsewhere as it's definitely worth a read :)
Comment · 10 years ago
All I did was sleep regular hours, stopped drinking energy drinks, drank water - and over a few months I 'got better'.
You didn't have it, by any current definition of the disease (Canadian/Fukuda criteria). "Chronic fatigue syndrome" is an unfortunate misnomer - fatigue is one symptom but far from the only one.
Comment · 10 years ago
There is a fairly comprehensive summary of recent research on [1] (not sure who curated it). Since then there has also been a significant metabolic study [2].
1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Dn3IXWlI9fR01QamdNeUNqZjA...
Comment · 10 years ago
As a near 10-year sufferer of severe ME/CFS, I can confirm this study has done unbelievable damage to the cause and should absolutely be retracted in full. Recent research has identified unquestionable, tangible and severe abnormalities in immune and metabolic function that are unique and consistent to ME/CFS sufferers, and this is no longer realistically up for debate. Most doctors though still dismiss the condition as psychological, and because of this (and even though the burden has been shown worse than other immune disorders like AIDS in many cases) funding is virtually non-existent. This study has been so widely disseminated and taught to medical professionals, the damage will take some time to undo unfortunately.