Sweeping chronic fatigue study brings clues but not clarity to mysterious syndrome

The deepest dive yet into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) offers a complex view of this mysterious condition. ME/CFS produces crushing exhaustion, particularly after even mild exertion. Many patients struggle to find care, or doctors who believe their symptoms aren’t imagined. The new work, published this week in Nature Communications , affirms that ME/CFS is unquestionably biologically rooted , says Avindra Nath, clinical director of the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, who led the study. It revealed brain activity differences, along with immune and other abnormalities, in 17 people with ME/CFS compared with 21 healthy controls. The paper “does bring together the complexity” of the condition, says Jo Cambridge, an immunologist at University College London (UCL) who has found potentially related signs of immune dysfunction in ME/CFS patients. “It highlights all the things you’ve got to take into account when you’re investigating this disease.” But the time it took to collect these threads of evidence speaks to the challenge of studying ME/CFS systematically. Begun in 2016, the study included more than 75 scientists and cost more than $8 million. Advocates hope next steps will move more quickly. “This has to be the beginning of building a bigger research program,” says Brian Vastag, a former science journalist disabled by ME/CFS, who lobbied for ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research