Study linking chronic fatigue syndrome to virus retracted by journal
(CBS/AP) Is chronic fatigue syndrome caused by a virus? It no longer appears to be the case.
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The journal Science has decided to put that link to rest by officially retracting the original research paper that first suggested chronic fatigue syndrome was caused by the virus "XMRV" typically found in mice.
The original paper from scientists at the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Reno, Nev. - first published in 2009 - reported that XMRV was found in blood samples of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. But since then other studies have not been able to replicate the findings.
The journal declared in May that the paper's validity was "seriously in question" after two studies suggested the viral link may have been due to contaminated lab samples. Then in September, a new study found no link between XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome and concluded lab tests used in the original study were unreliable, CBS News reported.
"The original findings that led to the concern and the excitement that this is real aren't reproducible," study author Dr. Michael P. Busch, professor of laboratory medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, said at the time. "I take that as an indication that those results are unreliable."
But researchers at Whittemore Peterson Institute still stood behind their original results, despite partially retracting some data, CBS News reported.
"Clearly things aren't over or they wouldn't be awarding grants for people like us to study this virus," Dr. Judy A. Mikovits, director of research at the Whittemore Peterson Institute, said at the time.
In Friday's issue, the journal says it has lost confidence in the report and so it is retracting it fully. In an unusual step, the retraction came from the editors rather than the authors, though editor-in-chief Bruce Alberts said most of the authors agreed in principle to retract the paper "but they have been unable to agree on the wording of their statement."
The news that scientists are no closer to finding a cause for the syndrome may disappoint some of the million-plus Americans who suffer from chronic fatigue. The disease is characterized by overwhelming fatigue for at least six months despite ample rest. The condition also causes weakness, muscle pain, impaired memory and/or mental concentration, and insomnia. Chronic fatigue syndrome can't be diagnosed with a simple test, so doctors diagnose it by ruling out other diseases. Women between the ages of 40 and 50 years old are most frequently diagnosed with the disease.
The CDC has more on chronic fatigue syndrome.
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The fact is, many do seem to have a condition characterizable as "chronic fatigue syndrome", which, if you look at the name, means a continued and sustained condition of having symptoms of fatigue, but not necessarily caused by fatigue. There are hints and suggestions, but, unfortunately, many demand a single, simple answer and a single, simple prescription. That may not be the case. That seems not to be the case.
In looking at something as, frankly, unprecedented as "chronic fatigue syndrome", it can be helpful, for example, even crucial, to consider the utterly unbelievable impact of the health of many Americans in the recent past, diseases no one heard of crawling out of the woodwork; allergies and such reactions, like "lactose intolerqance" and nut allergies, that were unheard of; children getting heart attacks as early as 12!
In fact, under the assault of claims of "healthy living", or the calculatedly nebulous "wellness", gullible and witless individuals across the continent have subjected themselves to a massive ruining of their bodies. Draconian diets; physical stress under the guise of "exercise"; medications to handle the symptoms of physical damage from diets and over-exertion, that were, themselves, little more than poisons with dozens of dangerous side effects and permanent after-effects.
While following regimens that emphasized protein, how many understood the world enough to know that they needed metabolizing substances to make use of the protein? When taking massive doses of vitamins, how few realized vitamins are noit nutrients, they are only powerful catalyzers that need substances to work on? Without nutrients to catalyze, vitamins are powerful poison! People were recommended low salt, without being told salt is a crucial electrolyte. People banned carbohydrates from their diets for a decade, then it was revealed they are necessary for energy! But after much damage was evidently done! They jogged incessantly, never asking themselves what the jostling was doing to their connective and what the loosening of that tissue did to their internal organs. To say nothing of the steady, constant wear on joints and skeleton! And drugs are being taken off the market regularly for deleterious side effects, even Tylenol, so often turned to for pain after unnaturally and unnecessarily strenuous exercise, is being recognized as dangerous.
And lawyers, even plaintiffs "advocates", eager to protect insurance carrier crooks, have downplayed injuries that have all but exploded in the recent past. As a result, many don't realize that, for example, herniated disks can have many effects similar to chronic fatigue, from neuralgia to indigestion. The nerves, remember, go through the neck, and the nerves cause the feelings that are often ascribed to other limbs! Also, the body responds to nerve messages, increasing flows of hormones or changing patterns of bone growth! And so often, they can get false signals from nerves being affected by herniated disks! And everything from increased emphasis on sports to diets that banned dairy products, including milk, can be blamed for skeletons being more fragile than they used to be and subjected to stresses that are unnecessary if not also unnatural!
And that is still the beginning. There are facets that many all but refuse to consider that many of the symptoms of chroinic fatigue, from pain to tiredness to all over manifesatations resemble oxygen starvation. For a decade and a half, the air over the U.S. has been contaminiated with chemicals sprayed by high flying jets, to facilitate weather control, a project that has come to be termed "chemtrails". Chemtrails have caused the worst hurricane season on record; the disappearance of bees; tornadoes occurring where they were previousaly unknown, like Brooklyn; and have forced the National Weather Service to have to recalcuklate wind chill to reflect that the air holds more heat than it used to. But these substances are unnatural and abnormal, and are steadily shouldering out oxygen in the air people breathe! They also ruin the weather, robbing people of bright blue, sunny days, the lack of sunlight affecting their bone density and the murkiness fostering depression.
The atmosphere in America currently is patently diametrically opposed to true health and welfare and will only continue if the New World Order, which is behind it, is allowed its own way.
Dr. Jay Levy who was one of the scientists who failed to replicate Lombardi et al said at the time,"With this extensive study, we could not confirm any of the results of the earlier papers," Levy said. He added that even through XMRV is not the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, evidence remains that some infectious agent could be involved. "Work should continue to find it," he said.
Shin et al who also failed to confirm XMRV, stated in conclusion, "It is also vital to state that there is still a wealth of earlier data to encourage further research into the involvement of other infectious agents in CFS, and these efforts must continue."
Modern scientists know that multiple pathogens can cause the same disease.
The Hutchins Family Foundation recently donated $10 million to jump start research into this disease including a cutting edge metagenomics viral study headed by Dr. Ian Lipkin.
The Senate Appropriation Committee in their ME/CFS funding allocation for both 2011 and 2012 stated that the CDC should prioritize laboratory efforts aimed at the identification of diagnostic subtypes and therapeutic biomarkers with increasing efforts in viral etiology. It also states that identification of subtypes could be important in identifying potential infectious etiologies of CFS.
The fact checkers at CBS would have known this had they read the peer-reviewed literature, read government budget literature or contacted experts such as Dr. Ian Lipkin, Dr. Lucinda Bateman, Dr. Ila Singh or Dr. Vincent Racaniello for comment.
This is all publicly available information.
As for the severity of the disease, several years ago ME/CFS expert Dr. Nancy Klimas told New York Times readers this: "My H.I.V. patients for the most part are hale and hearty thanks to three decades of intense and excellent research and billions of dollars invested. Many of my C.F.S. patients, on the other hand, are terribly ill and unable to work or participate in the care of their families.
I split my clinical time between the two illnesses, and I can tell you if I had to choose between the two illnesses (in 2009) I would rather have H.I.V. But C.F.S., which impacts a million people in the United States alone, has had a small fraction of the research dollars directed towards it."
I think I'll take the word of these scientists.
1. A neurologist (muscle pain). Your neurologist will perform many tests to determine if you are experiencing some neurological pain from a know neurological disease. You should ask your neurologist to test your level of GABA, since some people don't produce enough of it, and need to take supplements. GABA controls nerve pain, but the dose should be monitored by your neurologist.
2. Orthopedic (injury pain). If your pain may be derived from bone, cartilage, or tendon issues, then you will be recommended going to an Orthopedic doctor. They will check for pain resulting from previous injuries, and can recommend therapy over several weeks to relieve the pain.
3. Rheumatologist (joint swelling). You may be recommended to go to a Rheumatologist to check for antibody issues - lupus, osteo-arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Raynaud syndrome, etc.
4. Endocrinologist (pain throughout body or just one limb). You may also be sent to see an endocrinologist who will check your glands - thyroid, adrenal, lymph nodes, etc.
5. Allergist (runny nose, external hives, internal hives (rub skin and bumps rise, rash) - pain can be associated with eating some foods - pectin, lactose intolerance, gluten, etc. If you notice that you have more pain after eating a food, which may last several days, or even a couple of weeks, then tell your family doctor, and they can recommend you to go to an Allergist that can do tests. For example, just eating jelly which contains pectin for some people can cause pain, tingling throughout the body.
So, many diseases can make people think they have some unknown disease which is being lumped into chronic fatigue syndrome (i.e. God only knows), but with a little help from your internal or family physician, and some good specialists most of the time, the diagnosis can be determined, and you the patient, can again lead a productive life.
So...researchers and commenters...if you don't know anything about this shut up about it. It's like saying blind people don't have it so bad because you've never been blind.
Hey! MAYBE the cause of ALL these problems is THE MEDIA INUNDATING US WITH THIS JUNK MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT. What do YOU think, CBS???
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/11/how-the-collapse-of-a-scientific-hypothesis-led-to-a-lawsuit-and-arrest.ars