NIH Funds Study of CFS and Mono in College Age Students

01-16 Health, Science

“This study may help identify risk factors that make certain individuals more likely to develop ME/CFS after an infection and may provide additional insights into biological causes of this debilitating disease,” said Vicky Whittemore, program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

One aim of the new study is to assess the natural history of and risk factors for the maintenance of ME/CFS following infectious mononucleosis (IM).

Source: Press Releases | News | Newsroom | DePaul University, Chicago

Patients Push Limits for Clues to ME/CFS at NIH

01-08 Advocacy, Health, People, Science

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The NIH study is focusing on people who came down with the disease after an infection, of any sort, within five years. That initial infection is long gone but maybe, the body’s normal reactions to illness went into a destructive tailspin. Nearly 500 patients have called seeking to enroll in NIH’s study that is putting a few dozen under the microscope, with a barrage of sophisticated tests few hospitals can offer under one roof. “The ignorance about the condition just vastly dwarfs what we know about it,” said Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of NIH’s National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which is leading the research.

Source: Patients push limits for clues to chronic fatigue syndrome – STAT

FDA: Gabapentin, Opioid Combination May Cause Breathing Problems

12-19 Health

New warnings about the risk of dangerous breathing difficulties when gabapentinoids are used with opioids or by certain patients must now appear on product labels, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.

Gabapentinoids include: generic gabapentin and brand-name gabapentin marketed as Neurontin and Gralise; gabapentin enacarbil, marketed as Horizant; and generic pregabalin and pregabalin marketed as Lyrica and Lyrica CR.

Source: FDA: Gabapentin, opioid combination may cause breathing problems – UPI.com

RIKEN (Kobe City) and Osaka City University Hospital Announce a ME/CFS Clinical Drug Trial

12-18 Health, Science

In a breakthrough 2014 study in Japan, PET (positron emission tomography) scans of ME/CFS patients brains found significant inflammation in the amygdala, thalamus, and hippocampus that correlated with reduced cognitive function, pain, and depression. So far, PET scans have been performed on 19 male patients (26-54 years old) and 38 females (25-60 years old) of which about 40% have been found to have significant inflammation in the brain. Of these, three men have already started the drug trial. In this clinical trial, a PET scan and various tests are performed before any medication is started. After four months of administration of existing drugs currently used to treat cerebral infarction, various tests will be performed again to see if inflammation and symptoms are relieved. By the end of 2020, a total of 90 patients will be scanned, of which 30 patients with significant inflammation will join the trial. If the drug trial demonstrates positive results, there is the possibility of the development of new drugs to treat ME/CFS symptoms.

Source: Kobe Shimbun NEXT | Medical News | Drug development for severe fatigue and pain (ME/CFS)

Study Finds Differences in Energy Use by Immune Cells in ME/CFS

12-12 Health, Science

“This research gives us additional evidence for the role of the immune system in ME/CFS and may provide important clues to help us understand the mechanisms underlying this devastating disease,” said Vicky Whittemore, Ph.D., program director at NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Source: Study finds differences in energy use by immune cells in ME/CFS | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Cannabis and ME/CFS

12-11 Health, People

It’s been almost fifteen years since I was taken down by a mystery illness. These days I am functioning at about 80 percent of my physiological capacity – and that feels like remission to me. I manage my health by eating a mostly plant-based diet, exercise, stress reduction, some supplements, and daily dosing with a CBD-rich tincture, with occasional THC-rich cannabis at night.

Source: Cannabis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Project CBD

How Yukey Passed His English Proficiency Exam While Coping with ME

12-01 People

“If you have moderate or severe ME, it will take considerable effort and thorough preparation just to get out of your house to go see your doctor. This time, however, it was not just getting out of my house in northern Ibaraki, but I had to travel all the way to Tokyo to take the Eiken Grade 1 or the uppermost level of the English proficiency test in Japan”

Source: How I Prepared for an English Proficiency Test in Tokyo as an ME patient