BBC Focus Magazine

[Nails]

Immune system defect may cause ME

Researchers in Norway believe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as ME, may be caused by a wayward immune system attacking the body.

The illness, the cause of which is uncertain and has no known cure, has attracted significant controversy.

A small study, reported in PLoS One, showed a cancer drug, which inhibited the immune system, relieved symptoms in some patients.

The ME Association said the findings were "very encouraging news".

Doctors in Norway stumbled across their first clue in 2004 when treating a patient with both Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells, and CFS.

When she received cancer treatment, her fatigue symptoms improved for five months.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15401746

[M Paul Lloyd]

At one time I was very sceptical about ME and tended to view it as an excuse for plain old bone idle laziness but having known someone who suffered from it I found myself understanding it a bit better and just how genuinly debilitating it can be.

I will go so far as to suggest that it displays some similarities to what we used to call Battle Fatigue but which is now know as Combat Stress Reaction or in extreme cases Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

It has long been a rather neglected area of medical research so I'm rather pleased to see some possiblity of progress and a potential link to something medical and a little less 'psychiatric' in nature.

[Nails]

I think we are finding many ailments have a basis in our own immune systems, from common allergies to skin conditions - psoriasis and scleroderma, and more serious conditions such as MS, arthritis and diabetes.

It is truly a fascinating subject but far too complicated for my little brain to comprehend most of it.