Journal of IiME Volume 1 Issue 2 The Reality and Nature of ME/CFS By Professor Malcolm Hooper Eileen Marshall Margaret Williams At the launch by the US Centres for Disease Control in November 2006 of its “Toolkit” to promote better awareness of the reality of ME/CFS, Anthony Komaroff, Professor of Medicine at Harvard, said there are over 4,000 papers on the biomedical nature of ME/CFS. This extensive medical literature spans over 60 years. No-one who is aware of this wealth of information can credibly doubt the reality, the validity and the devastation of this organic multi-system disease. Although the precise cause(s) is yet to be determined, the symptoms of ME/CFS are not “medically unexplained” and it remains beyond reason that the existence of so many documented abnormalities in people with ME/CFS should simply be disregarded and denied, including the following: Abnormalities of the central nervous system include abnormalities of brain cognition, brain perfusion, brain metabolism and brain chemistry; there is evidence of low blood flow in multiple areas of the brain; neuroimaging has revealed lesions in the brain of approximately 80% of those tested and according to the researchers, these lesions are probably caused by inflammation: there is a correlation between the areas involved and the symptoms experienced; abnormalities on SPECT scans provide objective evidence of central nervous system dysfunction; there is evidence of a chronic inflammatory process of the CNS, with oedema or demyelination in 78% of patients tested; there is evidence of a significant and irreversible reduction in grey matter volume (especially in Brodmann’s area 9) which is related to physical impairment and may indicate major trauma to the brain (which could also explain the low recovery rate); there is evidence of seizures; a positive Romberg is frequently seen in authentic ME/CFS patients Abnormalities of the autonomic and peripheral nervous systems: There is evidence of dysautonomia in ME/CFS patients – see, for example, “Standing up for ME” by Spence and Stewart: Biologist 2004:51(2):65-70; according to Goldstein, ME/CFS represents the final common pathway for a multifactorial disorder causing autonomic dysfunction Cardiovascular dysfunction: There is evidence of haemodynamic instability and aberrations of cardiovascular reactivity (an expression of autonomic function); there is evidence of diastolic cardiomyopathy; there is evidence of endothelial dysfunction; there is evidence of peripheral vascular dysfunction with low oxygenation levels and poor perfusion and pulsatilities; there is evidence of abnormal heart rate variability and evidence of abnormal orthostasis; there is evidence of abnormally inverted Twaves and of a shortened QT interval, with electrophysiological aberrancy; there is evidence of abnormal oscillating T-waves and of abnormal cardiac Invest in ME Charity Nr 1114035 There is evidence of an unusual and inappropriate immune response: there is evidence of very low levels of NK cell cytotoxicty; there is evidence of low levels of autoantibodies (especially antinuclear and smooth muscle); there is evidence of abnormalities of immunoglobulins, especially SIgA and IgG3, (the latter having a known linkage with gastrointestinal tract disorders); there is evidence of circulating immune complexes; there is evidence of a Th1 to Th2 cytokine shift; there is evidence of abnormally diminished levels of intracellular perforin; there is evidence of abnormal levels of interferons and interleukins; there is evidence of increased white blood cell apoptosis, and there is evidence of the indisputable existence of allergies and hypersensitivities and positive mast cells, among many other anomalies, with an adverse reaction to pharmacological pathognomonic substances being virtually Virological abnormalities: There is evidence of persistent enterovirus RNA in ME/CFS patients; there is evidence of abnormalities in the 2-5 synthetase / RNase L antiviral pathway, with novel evidence of a 37 kDa binding protein not reported in healthy subjects or in other diseases; there is evidence of reverse transcriptase, an enzyme produced by retrovirus (continued on Page 36) Page 35/72 wall motion (at rest and on stress); there are indications of dilatation of the left ventricle and of segmental wall motion abnormalities; there is evidence that the left ventricle ejection fraction – at rest and with exercise – is as low as 30%; there is evidence of reduced stroke volume Respiratory system dysfunction: There is evidence of significant reduction in many lung function parameters including a significant decrease in vital capacity; there is evidence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness A disrupted immune system: www.investinme.org
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