{"id":12473,"date":"2017-04-03T07:40:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T07:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?p=12473"},"modified":"2017-04-03T07:40:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T07:40:44","slug":"us-top-science-journal-asserts-shift-in-attitude-towards-mecfs-has-occurred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/us-top-science-journal-asserts-shift-in-attitude-towards-mecfs-has-occurred\/","title":{"rendered":"US top science journal asserts shift in attitude towards ME\/CFS has occurred"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simmaron Research<\/strong> blog post, by Cort Johnson, 31 March 2017: The Shift: Top Science Journal Asserts Shift in Attitude Towards ME\/CFS Has Occurred,<\/a><\/p>\n

“Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a biological disease\u201d Dr. Ian Lipkin\u2019s Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University<\/p>\n

From NIH <\/a>Director Francis Collins\u2019 high profile blog \u201cMoving Toward Answers in\u00a0ME\/CFS\u201c<\/a>, to the New York Times Opinion piece \u201cGetting It Wrong on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome\u201d<\/a> exposing the failures of the PACE trial, to the coverage of the Australians\u2019 search for a biomarker, the chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS) community has been treated to some excellent press lately.<\/p>\n

Influential journal suggests a shift is occurring in how researchers are viewing ME\/CFS
\nNow comes a piece \u201cBiological underpinnings of chronic fatigue syndrome begin to emerge<\/a>\u201d from the news section of Nature, one of the world\u2019s most read and most prestigious scientific journals. The article, written by Amy Maxmen, proclaims that a \u201cshift\u201d from viewing ME\/CFS as psychosomatic to viewing it as a real disorder has occurred.<\/p>\n

The article is a far cry from some of sentiments of the \u201cLife After XMRV<\/a>\u201d piece Nature did in 2011 in which Simon Wessely asserted that the patients\u2019 reactions to that finding would lead another generation of researchers to avoid ME\/CFS research.\u00a0 (He rather memorably suggested that researchers would rather \u201cwork on images of Mohammed\u201d than study it.) Even advocates for the disease, though, worried that the controversy would turn off researchers.\u00a0 Others, however, felt that the XMRV finding would galvanize researchers to use new technologies to understand ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n

They were right. Wessely, it appears, was wrong.<\/p>\n

World-Class Researchers Beginning to Take ME\/CFS On<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0Nature\u00a0article makes it clear that a major cause for the shift occurring is the presence, for the first time ever, of world-class researchers willing to take ME\/CFS on.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ian Lipkin, an immunologist with an unmatched resume, has not only lent his name and prestige to this disease, but his Columbia team\u2019s published findings \u00a0\u2013 two of which have outlined dramatic changes in immune functioning in ME\/CFS \u2013 \u00a0have been at the center of this shift. The Columbia team\u2019s findings have been built on collaborations with expert clinicians, including Dr. Daniel Peterson and the Simmaron Research Foundation he advises. (Check out the slideshow <\/a>that dominates the website for Lipkin\u2019s\u00a0Center for Infection and Immunity\u00a0(CII): one of the slides simply says, \u201cChronic Fatigue Syndrome is a biological disease\u201d.)<\/p>\n

Ron Davis, with his many awards and the stunning story of his son\u2019s illness, is also reaching deep into the scientific world to find answers. The stunning picture of Davis holding the printed circuit he\u2019s using to decipher ME\/CFS could be a metaphor for the search for the answer to ME\/CFS itself.\u00a0 The answer is there in that maze somewhere, and it\u2019s going to be technology \u2013 probably new technology \u2013 that uncovers it.<\/p>\n

These two men, with their willingness to publicly take bold stands for this disease, have been at the forefront of the \u201cshift\u201d that appears to be occurring. Both men have had the ear of the NIH Director, Francis Collin. \u00a0Their credibility has gone far in helping the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the country, take a reinvigorated approach to ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n

\"\"Next,\u00a0Nature\u00a0cites the conclusion from the IOM report\u2019s \u201cexpert panel\u201d that\u00a0\u00a0chronic fatigue syndrome is an under-studied physiological illness. <\/a>Then comes mention of the intramural study led by\u00a0Avindra Nath<\/a>, the widely published and respected clinical director for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NINDS). An infectious neurologist, Dr. Nath is conducting the first intramural study in ME\/CFS in decades at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Dr. Lipkin and Dr. Peterson are advisers on this intramural study.<\/p>\n

Others could have been mentioned:\u00a0Mark Davis\u00a0of Stanford,\u00a0Derya Unutmaz\u00a0of the Jackson Laboratory, Lasker Award winner\u00a0Michael Houghton\u00a0of the University of Alberta,\u00a0Patrick McGowan\u00a0of the University of Toronto and others new to the field.\u00a0 As the names line up, you do get the idea that, as Dr. Nath told Nature, \u201cResearchers are thinking deeply about how to build the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building the field, of course, is what the NIH\u2019s recent decision to fund three ME\/CFS research centers is all about. Yes, much more is needed, but this article, showing up in a highly cited journal, suggests that the tide may be slowing turning where it needs to turn the most \u2013 in the research community.<\/p>\n

Ian Lipkin and the Center for Infection and Immunity Step Forward<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"Ian Lipkin is featured twice in the article, first stating:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have a great deal of evidence to support that this is not only real, but a complex set of disorders. We are gathering clues that will lead to controlled clinical trials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three studies from Lipkin and Hornig at Columbia are expected to be published shortly with one to be published next week. Don\u2019t be surprised if, based on Lipkin\u2019s comments, the CII lays the groundwork for something the chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS) community has been waiting for a long time: evidence of biologically determined subsets, or in Lipkin\u2019s words, direct evidence that ME\/CFS is made up of a \u201ccomplex\u00a0set\u00a0of disorders\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Simmaron Research Institute \/ Center For Infection and Immunity Collaboration<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In its efforts to scientifically redefine ME\/CFS, the\u00a0Simmaron Research Foundation<\/a>\u00a0regularly partners with Dr. Lipkin\u2019s Center for Infection and Immunity. Recent efforts included the spinal fluid study which showed dramatic alterations in immune functioning in the brain, the immune study which differentiated short from long duration ME\/CFS patients, and the gut study about to be published. Simmaron is currently collaborating with the CII on additional phases of spinal fluid research and more.<\/p>\n

Ian Lipkin: Three to Five Years* to Solve Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME\/CFS)<\/a>
\nSimmaron\u2019s Spinal Fluid Study Finds Dramatic Differences in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome<\/a>
\nMajor Study Suggests Early Immune Activation May Drive Chronic Fatigue Syndrome<\/a><\/p>\n

Stay tuned for a Simmaron\/CII study that will help to reshape our understanding of what ME\/CFS is and how it should be treated.<\/p>\n

The Gut and ME\/CFS<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The gut with its immense effect on the immune system is proving to be a fertile area of research on ME\/CFS (see below). Perhaps no other team has pushed the ME\/CFS gut connection more effectively recently than Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig at the CII.<\/p>\n

The Nature piece tantalized us a bit with news from Ian Lipkin that one of those studies showing an unusual pattern of gut flora in people with ME\/CFS and IBS will be published soon.<\/p>\n

A quick look at what studies have told us (see below) about the gut and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS) suggests that reduced gut floral diversity, possibly characterized by increased numbers of inflammatory bacteria may be common in ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n

Importantly, every study that has looked for leaky gut \u2013 which involves the translocation of gut bacteria into the blood \u2013 where it could spark an immune response causing fatigue, pain and other symptoms \u2013 has found it. \u00a0Most intriguingly, the research suggesting that exercise may negatively affect ME\/CFS patients\u2019 gut flora and increase their leaky gut issues could help explain post-exertional malaise.<\/p>\n

The Gut and ME\/CFS \u2013 Recent Findings<\/strong><\/h3>\n