Biomedical scientists from a range of disciplines met for a two-day workshop in Bristol on 13 and 14 April to discuss the ME/CFS “Grand Challenge” project, which plans to use a “big data” approach to the biochemistry of the illness and determine whether it is, as suspected, several different diseases. The study will be the biggest
Australian researchers have found an abnormal centre in the brain which may explain problems with the signalling around the body.
Professor Vincent Racianello of Columbia University has said of the PACE trial controversy, “I think they are going to ignore, obfuscate, and give their usual responses until we are all dead. I don’t have hope that the PACE authors, or Lancet, will respond in any meaningful way until there is more of an outcry.” Racianello’s
ME/CFS patient and science blogger Simon McGrath has produced a patient-friendly version of a recent peer-reviewed editorial on the disease that appeared in the science journal Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior. The article, titled The biological challenge of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a solvable problem, became Fatigue’s most-read paper ever within a week of publication, with over 3700 views as
In Dr. Albright’s study of the families of ME/CFS patients in Utah, risk of ME was found to be 2.7 times greater in first-degree relatives of ME patients, 2.3 times greater in second-degree relatives, and 1.93 times greater in third-degree relatives. This familial clustering is the basis for new research in Norway, where scientists are
A new study was published recently in the journal Chronic Illness, entitled Housebound versus nonhousebound patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome by Pendergrast et al. The authors of the paper included the well-known ME/CFS researchers Julia L. Newton and Leonard Jason. Newton is most often recognized for her studies in muscular function in
A recent Australian study, Progressive Brain Changes in Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Longitudinal MRI Study finds that CFS patients meeting both Fukuda and CCC have decreased grey and white matter volumes in the areas of the brain we use for language processing. Interestingly, patients had increased grey matter volume in the supplementary motor
Invest in ME (IiME) have announced that Dr Vicky Whittemore of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will give keynote speeches at the charity’s biomedical research colloquium and conference in London in early June. IiME described the events as “a fantastic gathering of researchers”. The charity had approached the NIH in order to invite
Professor Jonathan Edwards, along with several ME/CFS patients and a carer with scientific backgrounds have co-authored a peer-reviewed editorial on the disease that appears in the latest issue of the journal Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior. The article is titled, The biological challenge of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a solvable problem. The paper has gained
Dr. Zaher Nahle from the Solve ME/CFS Initiative recently interviewed Dr. Avi Nath, who is leading the intramural study on ME/CFS at the NIH. The intramural study on ME/CFS at the NIH has raised some concerns in the ME/CFS community: the appointment of Dr. Walitt, who has made statements implying that he views ME/CFS as
