Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
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Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
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Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#2Paper at https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2019/04/24/190127411...
Pleasantly surprised to discover that it was legally available!
The test appears to be ridiculously good. Perfect separation of 40 subjects into those who have been diagnosed with CFS and those who are known to be healthy, from blood samples.
I want to see this replicated, by people who are not the original authors; but if this test is anything like as good as it looks, it's revolutionary.
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#3Paper at https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2019/04/24/190127411... Pleasantly surprised to discover that it was legally available! The test appears to be ridiculously good. Perfect separation of 40 subjects into those who have been diagnosed with CFS and those who are known to be healthy, from blood samples. I want to see this replicated, by people who are not the original authors; but if this test is anything…
I have to agree with you here - the separation is too good. You just never get anything in the real world that works this well with complex diseases.
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#4But which is the cause? Perhaps someone convinced they're ill, weakens their own immune system - either through some psychosomatic mechanism, or through associated behaviors.
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#5But which is the cause? Perhaps someone convinced they're ill, weakens their own immune system - either through some psychosomatic mechanism, or through associated behaviors.
No one knows the cause yet, which is why studies like this are important.
Please don't idly suggest that CFS is just something psychosomatic or behavioral. The disease is much more debilitating than that, and this very common psychological misdiagnosis most often leads to dangerous advice. For example, CFS patients are often told by doctors to excercise, which actually only makes the symptoms even worse.
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#6But which is the cause? Perhaps someone convinced they're ill, weakens their own immune system - either through some psychosomatic mechanism, or through associated behaviors.
It's somewhat irresponsible to suggest that this is psychosomatic, even in the face of a highly reliable biomarker. CFS sufferers have had insult added to injury for decades due to physicians dismissing them as hypochondriacs. This is a complex, debilitating syndrome that requires a lot of study. The type of fatigue these individuals experience is a lot more severe than "I'm tired and I don't know why"
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#7But which is the cause? Perhaps someone convinced they're ill, weakens their own immune system - either through some psychosomatic mechanism, or through associated behaviors.
No one knows the cause yet, which is why studies like this are important. Please don't idly suggest that CFS is just something psychosomatic or behavioral. The disease is much more debilitating than that, and this very common psychological misdiagnosis most often leads to dangerous advice. For example, CFS patients are often told by doctors to excercise, which actually only makes the symptoms even worse.
This reminds me of this quote from an article about Phil Libin, former CEO of Evernote:
> Eventually he (Phil Libin) pinpointed the source. "It was the carbs," he said.
https://www.businessinsider.com/phil-libin-fasting-routine-2...
I think bad eating habits, eating unhealthy food, too much, too often, and too erratically has something to do with the uptick in these conditions.
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#8Paper at https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2019/04/24/190127411... Pleasantly surprised to discover that it was legally available! The test appears to be ridiculously good. Perfect separation of 40 subjects into those who have been diagnosed with CFS and those who are known to be healthy, from blood samples. I want to see this replicated, by people who are not the original authors; but if this test is anything…
I have to agree with you here - the separation is too good. You just never get anything in the real world that works this well with complex diseases.
This is true, but everything is complex only up to the point when you begin to understand it. Scurvy was a complex disease until the discovery that it was cured and prevented by citrus fruit(1). Now we have the technology to skip right to the discovery of vitamin C, a miraculous 100% accurate test for scurvy.
I know I'm oversimplifying, but I think the point is valid. This is why discovery of a biomarker is so crucial -- it begins to "decomplexify" the disease so we can properly define it and start to find treatments for it.
(1) Ok, it's never really that simple: http://mentalfloss.com/article/24149/how-scurvy-was-cured-th...
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#9But which is the cause? Perhaps someone convinced they're ill, weakens their own immune system - either through some psychosomatic mechanism, or through associated behaviors.
Did you read the paper? The authors don't know a cause, but they mention a previous hypothesis by Myhill and such people, that it's something to do with the metabolic system breaking somehow; and they have a brief discussion of whether their test could be detecting something in this area. (Myhill's suggested mechanism is better fleshed-out than that, but I have only a passing interest in this subject so I don't really understand it.)
Re: Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
#10But which is the cause? Perhaps someone convinced they're ill, weakens their own immune system - either through some psychosomatic mechanism, or through associated behaviors.
Did you read the paper? The authors don't know a cause, but they mention a previous hypothesis by Myhill and such people, that it's something to do with the metabolic system breaking somehow; and they have a brief discussion of whether their test could be detecting something in this area. (Myhill's suggested mechanism is better fleshed-out than that, but I have only a passing interest in this subject so I don't reall…
> Myhill
Sarah Myhill is a crank who sells blood tests and weird megavitamin mixes to vulnerable people.