MAGICAL MEDICINE: HOW TO MAKE AN ILLNESS ... - Invest in ME

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• Professor Mark VanNess from the University of the Pacific found that maximum aerobic capacity
(VO2 peak) is reduced in ME/CFS compared with sedentary controls
• Van Ness found that oxygen capacity at the anaerobic threshold is reduced in ME/CFS
• Van Ness also found that serum lactate is elevated, suggesting an abnormally early shift to
anaerobic metabolism
• in a subset of patients, Martin Lerner (Wayne State University, Detroit) described persistent EBV
and/or CMV in ME/CFS patients: in addition to having high titres, all 37 patients studied had an
elevated heart rate at rest, recurrent T‐wave inversion on Holter monitoring, cardiac abnormalities
and/or biopsy‐proven cardiomyopathy. Symptoms included not only tachycardia but chest pain
and syncope
• according to Lerner, all ME/CFS patients have abnormal T waves; inversion is seen in 96%; there
is resting tachycardia. Cardiac biopsies show fibrosis, myofibre disarray and fatty infiltrates.
Other key areas of ME/CFS research reported in “Facts from Florida” include Nuclear Medicine (showing
some of the abnormalities in functioning that patients with ME/CFS experience on a daily basis); Proteomics
(the study of proteins made in the cell, including evidence of unique markers in the cerebrospinal fluid of
ME/CFS patients that are completely absent in controls and which were described as “unbelievable”);
Virology (showing evidence of viral persistence in ME/CFS patients); Gastrointestinal dysfunction (evidence
was presented of enterovirus in stomach biopsies of 80% of ME/CFS patients, compared with none in
controls); Sleep disruption (due to a lack of parasympathetic activity during attempted sleep periods); Pain
(described as a major feature in many aspects of ME/CFS); Cognitive impairment (evidence was presented
suggesting that the central nervous system correlates of cognitive dysfunction in ME/CFS have an
inflammatory basis); Immunology (evidence of activated CD8 cells; poorly functioning NK cells; novel
findings – seen only in ME/CFS – of abnormalities of the 2‐5A pathway [RNase‐L ratio]; cytokine
abnormalities [pro‐inflammatory dysregulation]; increased TGF, and 27 times more circulating immune
complexes than in controls); Neuroendocrine dysfunction (evidence of neurobiological distinctions between
‘pure’ ME/CFS and CFS/ME with psychiatric morbidity ‐‐ further evidence that ME/CFS is not psychiatric in
origin); Genomics (the study of the function and interactions of genetic material, including interactions with
environmental factors which play a significant role in ME/CFS) and Paediatrics (with the presentation of
new paediatric diagnostic criteria from Professor Leonard Jason et al, which means there is now a science‐
based instrument to correctly diagnose children and adolescents with ME/CFS).
In summary, this international conference demonstrated the difference between science and psychiatry.
2008
A Scottish team noted that as long ago as 1997, markers of inflammation were demonstrated in some
patients with ME/CFS, and that in 2005, vascular stiffness was shown to have an impact on resting and
exercise‐induced haemodynamics. Aware of the accumulating evidence that the cardiovascular system is
compromised in many patients with ME/CFS, this team investigated the relationship between
inflammation and arterial stiffness in ME/CFS patients. (If arteries become stiff, the heart has to work
harder and, ultimately, blood pressure becomes higher. Stiff arteries have been linked to kidney problems
and heart disease, and may contribute to the orthostatic problems (dizziness on standing) experienced by
some ME/CFS patients). This study demonstrated that the augmentation index (a measure of arterial
stiffness) was significantly greater in patients with ME/CFS than in controls and concluded: “The results
of this study have shown that patients with ME/CFS have high serum CRP levels (C‐reactive protein, a
sensitive biochemical marker of inflammation) indicative of chronic inflammation. The combination of
increased arterial wave reflection, inflammation and oxidative stress may result in unfavourable