Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and ME May Be Caused by XMRV Virus
Chronic Fatigue and ME
A dramatic breakthrough in understanding the cause of the conditions Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) has been made by researchers at The Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease (WPI) in Nevada, U.S.A. The WPI is the first institute in the world dedicated to neuro-immune diseases.
ME is a chronic, inflammatory disease that affects all the body systems; predominantly the neurological, endocrine and immune systems. Primarily a neurological disease, it can cause symptoms including visual problems, muscle weakness, severe fatigability, severe pain and poor body temperature control. ME has been included in the classification of the World Health Organization (WHO) as a disease of the central nervous system since 1969.
In 1987, researchers from the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. assumed that the cases they observed during the mid 1980s were not ME and therefore attached a different name to the phenomenon: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). The criteria were broader than those for ME. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a multi-systemic disease and symptoms include widespread muscle and joint pain; cognitive difficulties; depression; digestive disturbances; chronic severe mental and physical exhaustion.
About 17 million people worldwide have suffered with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. For many their lives have been deeply affected or destroyed, since the symptoms do not go away.
XMRV (Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) is a gammaretrovirus that was first described in 2006. XMRV has been associated with familial and sporadic prostate cancer. This retrovirus in the study was found to be present in more than two-thirds of the patient samples with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Further blood tests have revealed that more than 95% of patients with the syndrome have antibodies to the virus, thus indicating they have been infected with XMVR, which can lie dormant within a patient’s DNA. Only 8 out of 218 healthy people had the virus.
Lead researcher, Dr Judy Mikovits, of Whittemore Peterson Institute, is conducting further tests in patients from London. If the findings can be replicated by other studies, the XMRV virus may be accepted as a cause for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Then it could be possible to treat patients with antivirals or develop a vaccine against the virus.
This study has been published in the journal “Science” on October 8th, 2009.
For those who suffer with these conditions, it is a very difficult road. For decades these patients have often been ignored or accused of exaggerating their symptoms. Doctors that have recognized the severity of these conditions often feel helpless, since patients do not respond to regular treatments.
We hope this is the beginning of hope for those who suffer with Chronic Fatigue and ME.
Lady Sharon
Scribe of Camelot
UPDATE Jan 7, 2010 Read the latest on this issue on Chronic Fatigue
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