Journal of IiME Volume 6 Issue 1 (June 2012) has a high probability (90%) of having active (ME)CFS. These findings are consistent with chronic stimulation of the immune system, perhaps by a virus”. 1992 On 20th December 1991 the Principal Investigator of (ME)CFIDS studies at the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) , Dr Walter Gunn, had announced to The CFIDS Association: “Our Surveillance Study does not support the notion that (ME)CFS is a psychiatric illness and in fact suggests that it has an organic basis. Recent published reports suggest that the immune system may be involved in this illness” (The CFIDS Chronicle, February 1992). 1992 A major study looking at neurological, immunological and virological aspects in 259 (ME)CFS patients found that neurological symptoms, MRI findings and lymphocyte phenotyping studies suggest that patients “may have been experiencing a chronic, immunologically mediated inflammatory process of the central nervous system” and that “ We think that this is probably a heterogeneous illness that can be triggered by different environmental factors (including stress, toxins and infectious agents), all of which can lead to immune dysfunction and the consequent reactivation of latent viruses” (Dedra Buchwald, Paul Cheney, Daniel Peterson, Robert C Gallo, Anthony Komaroff et al. Ann Int Med 1992:116:2:103-113). 1992 “It is known that such patients are remarkably likely to have a history of atopy pre-dating the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome (50-83%). Patients may have an immune system that responds over-emphatically to environmental or internal stimuli…aspects of the immune reaction may not be stoppable even after an insult is over” (WK Cho & GH Stollerman. Hospital Practice 1992:221-245). 1992 Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) www.investinme.org Page 41 of 108 “Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome are reported to have a higher incidence of allergic conditions. Indeed, it has been speculated that heightened allergic responsiveness may be a risk factor for the development of the syndrome. In particular, the diverse clinical and immunological features have been argued to reflect an ongoing state of immune activation” (MA Demitrack, Stephen E Straus et al. Biol Psychiatry 1992:32:1065-1077). 1992 In September 1992 The CFIDS Association produced another issue of “A Physicians’ Forum” (entitled “CFIDS: The Diagnosis of a Distinct Illness”), with contributions from world-class experts including Professors/Drs David Bell, Leonard Calabrese, Paul Cheney, Jay Goldstein, James Jones, Nancy Klimas, Anthony Komaroff, Charles Lapp, Benjamin Natelson, and Daniel Peterson. Dr David Bell said: “Differential diagnosis includes rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, hepatitis B, polymyalgia rheumatica, human immunodeficiency virus infection and malignant disease….Numerous immunologic abnormalities have been described in patients with (ME)CFS….Decreased natural killer cell function is perhaps the most reproducible immunologic abnormality”. Dr Leonard Calabrese (Head of the Clinical Immunology Section in the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Disease at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation) said: “Growing experimental evidence suggests that a portion of patients with (ME)CFS have both qualitative and quantitative immunologic abnormalities. When the immune system of patients with (ME)CFS is challenged, the response is quantitavely abnormal. Mononuclear cells from patients with (ME)CFS proliferate at half the expected rate following challenge with phytohaemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen….A deficiency in certain natural killer cells has been proposed to explain many of these abnormalities”.
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