| Autoimmunity to serotonin in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome |
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International news
Saturday 25 May 2013
From About.com's Adrienne Dellwo:
 Autoimmunity to Serotonin in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Research Brief
A new study on chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) suggests that an autoimmune reaction to the neurotransmitter serotonin damages serotonin-sensitive brain cells. Researchers also concluded that high levels of bacteria move through intestinal membrane in people with ME/CFS, which is known to play a role in autoimmunity.
Researchers compared serotonin antibodies in people with ME/CFS, those with chronic fatigue who don't meet ME/CFS criteria, and healthy controls. They found that autoimmune activity against serotonin was more than four times what it was in chronic fatigue, and twelve times higher than in healthy people.
Serotonin autoimmunity was linked to more severe hyperalgesia (pain amplification,) fatigue, brain fog, autonomic symptoms, sadness, and flu-like symptoms.
Researchers say serotonin autoimmunity could be part of the underlying pathology of the condition, and their results provide support for ME/CFS being a neuro-immune disorder.
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| Are B-cells to blame for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? |
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International news
Friday 24 May 2013
From Discover magazine:
Chronic fatigue syndrome’s
debilitating symptoms
might
be the result of
overzealous immune cells.
(Photo:
Piotr Marcinski/
Shutterstock)
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Are B-Cells to Blame for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
The ravages of chronic fatigue syndrome may be the result of an overlooked but essential part of the body's own immune system.
By Jill Neimark
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, is a perplexing disorder that may seem more like a voodoo hex than an illness. Patients might lie bedridden in dark rooms, in chronic pain, often with multiple neurological symptoms like muscle pain, sweating and dizziness.
Doctors have targeted various causes, from herpes viruses to retroviruses to depression. But a surprising new explanation suggests that the disorder is an autoimmune disease of the nervous system caused by overactive B-cells, which are normally responsible for churning out pathogen-killing antibodies.
In 2011, two Norwegian oncologists, Oystein Fluge and Olav Mella of Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, along with colleagues, studied 30 people diagnosed with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS). Each received either a placebo or a highly specialized chemotherapy drug called rituximab, which rapidly and selectively depletes B-cells. After 12 months, 10 of 15 patients on the drug significantly improved; only two of 15 on the placebo improved.
This study marks just one more step in a growing body of research focusing on the role of B-cells in autoimmune disease. While they’re essential for helping the body fend off attacks, if something goes awry, B-cells can generate antibodies that attack healthy tissues.
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| Telomere length linked to Fibromyalgia pain |
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International news
Thursday 23 May 2013
From Anesthesiology News:
 Telomere Length Linked to Fibromyalgia Pain
By Michael Vlessides
Pain Medicine, Issue: May 2013 | Volume: 39.5
Washington—Considered a marker for biological aging linked to increased risk for morbidity and mortality, shortened leukocyte telomere length now has been associated with pain in fibromyalgia, researchers at the University of Michigan have found. The investigators also found that shortened telomere length was directly related to evoked pain sensitivity and altered brain structure, suggesting that pain may accelerate cellular aging.
“Telomeres are protein complexes that cap and protect the ends of chromosomes,” said Afton L. Hassett, PsyD, associate research scientist in the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center at the Ann Arbor institution. “Critically short telomeres put cells at risk for apoptosis and death.
“This is the first study to show that telomere length is associated with clinical pain alone, as well as experimental pain. I will also caution, however, that this was a highly exploratory study.”
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| Bloodspot-based diagnostic test for Fibromyalgia |
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International news
Wednesday 22 May 2013
From ProHealth:
 A Bloodspot-Based Diagnostic Test for Fibromyalgia
ProHealth.com • May 20, 2013
Editor's comment: This is the second study in six months to investigate a potential diagnostic blood test for fibromyalgia. The earlier study, published in December, 2012, measured cytokine levels and was able to distinguish FM patients from healthy controls. This study uses spectral and metabolomic analysis and was able to distinguish FM patients from patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
A bloodspot-based diagnostic test for fibromyalgia syndrome and related disorders
By Kevin V. Hackshaw, et al.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of a rapid biomarker-based method for diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) using mid-infrared microspectroscopy (IRMS) to differentiate patients with FM from those with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to identify molecular species associated with the spectral patterns.
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| Pain patients speak out at public forum |
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International news
Tuesday 21 May 2013
From the National Pain Report:
 Pain Patients Speak Out at Public Forum
May 19th, 2013 by Ed Coghlan
“You can’t let the pain win!”
That’s what a young woman in her late 20’s battling pain from a number of auto-immune diseases told a community forum in Pasadena, California.
Arlene Grau, who has rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, fibromyalgia and lupus, was part of a panel sponsored by KPCC Southern California Public Radio for a forum on pain called “Invisible Suffering.”
(You can hear the audio replay of the forum here)
Grau, who is a mother of two young girls, was very candid why she was willing to share her story.
“Pain patients need to hear that we can’t let the illnesses change who we are,” said Grau, who estimates she’s been hospitalized ten times in the last year.
When an audience member said, “No one should have to hurt this much,” Grau said it was important not let her anger about the chronic pain she suffers overwhelm her.
“I have good days and I have bad days,” Grau told the audience. “Enjoy the good days.”
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| Floored by ME – the condition that defies diagnosis |
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International news
Monday 20 May 2013
From Ireland's Galway City Tribune:
‘I couldn’t get out of bed,
except by holding onto
the
walls
to
get to
the
bathroom
or
the
sitting room.’
– Des Doherty
(Photo: Gerry Stronge)
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Floored by ME - the condition that defies diagnosis
May 17, 2013 - 7:00am
Lifestyle - Judy Murphy hears from sufferers of how they cope with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Sleeping problems, headaches, and constant pain in my body like broken razor blades were being pulled through the inside of my veins,” is how Des Doherty from Woodlawn describes the impact of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on his life, when he was diagnosed with the condition in 2006.
He was 50 years old, and had previously been ill with shingles, which left him feeling distinctly unwell.
“I got them in 2004 on my waist and back and was off work for six weeks,” says Des, who worked as a postman in Menlough. Although the shingles lifted, he continued to suffer from flu-like symptoms and had no energy, but didn’t know what the problem was, so he just kept going. Two years later, the shingles returned, this time affecting his face. Again he was off work, but returned after a month. However, he was floored.
“I couldn’t do anything. I went to my doctor and told him I wasn’t feeling good. He diagnosed a virus, related to my immune system.”
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| Interview with Professor Julia Newton |
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International news
Sunday 19 May 2013
From ProHealth:
An Interview With Julia Newton, Founding Member of Newly Launched CFS/ME Research Collaborative
By Clark Ellis • ProHealth.com • May 16, 2013
Dr. Julia Newton is one of the founding members of the recently launched UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative (UK CMRC), a new initiative aimed at expanding medical studies into ME/CFS, by bringing together experts in the field and several of the ME/CFS charities in the UK.
Dr. Newton is Dean for Clinical Medicine at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. She is also Clinical Professor of Ageing and Medicine at Newcastle University and a Consultant at the Royal Victoria Infirmary within the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is highly respected in her field, possesses a wide range of skills and has won awards for her communication skills, scientific presenting, teaching and innovation.
Dr. Newton kindly took the time to answer some questions about the new collaborative and her research activities.
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