Virus Discovered May Cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Yes, It’s Real… Not a Psychological Problem!
I AM very happy to report that today the online journal Science has reported that a virus has been discovered that might directly cause, or contribute to, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
For more than 20 years, I’ve watched a close friend battle this “syndrome”, not only within himself, but with much of the medical community which has long thought that these patients were simply indolent or had psychiatric problems rather than genuine physical debilitation. His was a frustrating and exhausting journey.
Worldwide, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome causes prolonged and sever fatigue, body aches and other symptoms in approximately 17 million people, including at least one million Americans. And now it’s not deemed to be in some collective imagination — medical science finally says it’s real.
The journal Science reports that 68 of 101 patients with the syndrome, or 67 percent, were infected with an infectious virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV. Continuing work after the paper was published has found the virus in nearly 98 percent of about 300 patients with the syndrome, said Dr. Judy A. Mikovits, the lead author of the paper.
Dr. Mikovits said she and her colleagues are planning to test antiretroviral drugs on the syndrome. If the drugs work, that will help prove that the virus is causing the illness. She said patients and doctors should wait for the studies to be finished before trying the drugs.
For more on this, go to the New York Times article by Denise Grady.
Last Updated on March 1, 2022 by Joe Garma
