Post by Damien Tonkin on Aug 28, 2005 21:12:18 GMT 8
cfs has been "discovered" more info in this article:
FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2005
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
News
Chronic fatigue not in the mind
LONDON
Suspicions that chronic fatigue syn-drome is "all in the mind" may finally have been laid to rest with the discovery that sufferers have biologi-cal abnormalities, it was reported yesterday.
The illness makes sufferers feel
very tired, and the symptoms —
which include weakness, headaches,
disrupted sleep patterns and a
difficulty in concentrating — have
been described as being like a bad hangover.
A British team led by Dr Jonathan Kerr has made a major breakthrough in research on the illness, which it says could lead to a blood test for the disorder and even drugs to treat it.
The research, which is due to be published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology next month, shows "clear physical changes" in CFS sufferers.
The work by Dr Kerr's team con-
centrated on the gene expression of sufferers' white blood cells.
"The involvement of such genes does seem to fit with the fact that these patients lack energy and suffer from fatigue," Dr Kerr told New Scientist magazine.
The condition has confused scien-tists for years, with some clinicians dismissing it as a figment of the patients' imagination.
However, it was when Dr Kerr and his team focused their attention
on white blood cells that they made a breakthrough.
The research appears to indicate that the white blood cells of CFS suf-ferers behave differently from the cells of non-sufferers.
Several genes seem to be either under or over-expressed, which may indicate that a continuing viral infection is the cause of the condition.
Dr Kerr and his team — which is in the process of moving to St
George's Hospital at London Uni-versity — are taking their work further by examining a larger sample of sufferers.
"It will open the door to develop-ment of pharmacological interven-tions," Dr Kerr said
"This exciting new work shows that some aspects of this complex ill-ness may be understandable in molecular terms, and that CFS is not a 'made-up' illness," said Dr Russell Lane, of Charing Cross Hospital.
FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2005
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
News
Chronic fatigue not in the mind
LONDON
Suspicions that chronic fatigue syn-drome is "all in the mind" may finally have been laid to rest with the discovery that sufferers have biologi-cal abnormalities, it was reported yesterday.
The illness makes sufferers feel
very tired, and the symptoms —
which include weakness, headaches,
disrupted sleep patterns and a
difficulty in concentrating — have
been described as being like a bad hangover.
A British team led by Dr Jonathan Kerr has made a major breakthrough in research on the illness, which it says could lead to a blood test for the disorder and even drugs to treat it.
The research, which is due to be published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology next month, shows "clear physical changes" in CFS sufferers.
The work by Dr Kerr's team con-
centrated on the gene expression of sufferers' white blood cells.
"The involvement of such genes does seem to fit with the fact that these patients lack energy and suffer from fatigue," Dr Kerr told New Scientist magazine.
The condition has confused scien-tists for years, with some clinicians dismissing it as a figment of the patients' imagination.
However, it was when Dr Kerr and his team focused their attention
on white blood cells that they made a breakthrough.
The research appears to indicate that the white blood cells of CFS suf-ferers behave differently from the cells of non-sufferers.
Several genes seem to be either under or over-expressed, which may indicate that a continuing viral infection is the cause of the condition.
Dr Kerr and his team — which is in the process of moving to St
George's Hospital at London Uni-versity — are taking their work further by examining a larger sample of sufferers.
"It will open the door to develop-ment of pharmacological interven-tions," Dr Kerr said
"This exciting new work shows that some aspects of this complex ill-ness may be understandable in molecular terms, and that CFS is not a 'made-up' illness," said Dr Russell Lane, of Charing Cross Hospital.
