Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 2.1.2006 11:24
Puolalaisen tutkimuksen mukaan krooninen uupumus - fatiikki, on yleinen oire borrelioosia sairastavilla:
Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2003 Nov-Dec;37(6):1211-21.
Chronic fatigue syndrome following tick-borne diseases
[Article in Polish] Gustaw K. Pracownia Diagnostyki i Terapii Chorob Naczyniowych Instytutu Medycyny Wsi w Lublinie. The chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by a feeling of tiredness persisting for over 6 months, associated with a number of other symptoms including headaches, myalgia and arthralgia, memory and concentration impairment. Its cause is unknown, there are neither objective diagnostic methods, nor causal treatment of the condition. In view of hypotheses suggesting a relationship between CFS and infections, 86 patients with a history of borreliosis or tick-borne encephalitis were examined. In 50% of these cases CFS could be identified. This clinical pattern was found in as many as 71% of the borreliosis patients, while only 24% of those with history of tick-borne encephalitis were diagnosed with CFS. Moreover, in the patients with a history of borreliosis after symptomatic treatment recommended for CFS, an amelioration was noted in as many as 61% of the cases.
The findings suggest that the chronic fatigue syndrome is frequent among patients with a history of borreliosis.
PMID: 15174234 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
KROONINEN UUPUMUS - BORRELIOOSI
Valvojat: Jatta1001, Borrelioosiyhdistys, Bb
KROONINEN UUPUMUS - BORRELIOOSI
Viimeksi muokannut Bb, Pe Maalis 06, 2009 21:50. Yhteensä muokattu 1 kertaa.
Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 7.3.2006 11:01
Krooniseen fatiikkiin on kehitteillä uusi lääke joka vaikuttaa immuunijärjestelmään. Tutkijat ovat löytäneet myös viruksia jotka saattavat osaltaan olla syypäitä oireisiin. Viruslääkkeet saattavat siksi tulla kyseeseen fatiikin hoidossa.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... atig02.xml
Hope for sufferers of chronic fatigue
By Roger Highfield
(Filed: 02/03/2006)
A drug that acts on the body's immune system offers a potential new way to treat chronic fatigue syndrome, according to research on biological effects of the disease.
The symptoms of chronic fatigue, which may affect as many as 240,000 people, have been compared to a bad hangover: weakness, inability to think straight, disrupted sleep and headache.
But some say it is the same as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, and sufferers of the syndrome - CFS - have often received little sympathy from doctors, some of whom dismiss it as "all in the mind".
Last year, however, Dr Jonathan Kerr's team at St George's, University of London reported differences in the way genes are used in the white blood cells of people with the disease, in studies backed by the CFS Research Foundation.
Research presented at a meeting organised by the foundation last night provides further evidence that, in patients with well-defined symptoms, there are marked changes in how genes are regulated. And Dr Kerr said that, within a year, he will have made the first attempts to use drugs to treat the disease, based on the new understanding of the metabolic pathways affected by the genes.
The team has found an existing drug - an unnamed "immunomodulatory drug" which has already been tested - that may act on the metabolic pathways that seems to underpin the changes in gene use. "We have been promised the drug by the drug company. We now need to get funding to start," Dr Kerr said.
The work also involves the development of a laboratory blood test, since it has discovered differences in blood proteins related to the changes in the use of genes.
Dr Kerr's team has also identified viruses that may perpetuate the disease, which fits with some current thinking that it results from a persistent infection. As a result, antiviral drugs may also be candidates for treatment, though Dr Kerr admitted that other factors are important, notably stress, which is known to affect immunity.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.
Krooniseen fatiikkiin on kehitteillä uusi lääke joka vaikuttaa immuunijärjestelmään. Tutkijat ovat löytäneet myös viruksia jotka saattavat osaltaan olla syypäitä oireisiin. Viruslääkkeet saattavat siksi tulla kyseeseen fatiikin hoidossa.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... atig02.xml
Hope for sufferers of chronic fatigue
By Roger Highfield
(Filed: 02/03/2006)
A drug that acts on the body's immune system offers a potential new way to treat chronic fatigue syndrome, according to research on biological effects of the disease.
The symptoms of chronic fatigue, which may affect as many as 240,000 people, have been compared to a bad hangover: weakness, inability to think straight, disrupted sleep and headache.
But some say it is the same as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, and sufferers of the syndrome - CFS - have often received little sympathy from doctors, some of whom dismiss it as "all in the mind".
Last year, however, Dr Jonathan Kerr's team at St George's, University of London reported differences in the way genes are used in the white blood cells of people with the disease, in studies backed by the CFS Research Foundation.
Research presented at a meeting organised by the foundation last night provides further evidence that, in patients with well-defined symptoms, there are marked changes in how genes are regulated. And Dr Kerr said that, within a year, he will have made the first attempts to use drugs to treat the disease, based on the new understanding of the metabolic pathways affected by the genes.
The team has found an existing drug - an unnamed "immunomodulatory drug" which has already been tested - that may act on the metabolic pathways that seems to underpin the changes in gene use. "We have been promised the drug by the drug company. We now need to get funding to start," Dr Kerr said.
The work also involves the development of a laboratory blood test, since it has discovered differences in blood proteins related to the changes in the use of genes.
Dr Kerr's team has also identified viruses that may perpetuate the disease, which fits with some current thinking that it results from a persistent infection. As a result, antiviral drugs may also be candidates for treatment, though Dr Kerr admitted that other factors are important, notably stress, which is known to affect immunity.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.
Viimeksi muokannut Bb, Su Huhti 18, 2010 13:41. Yhteensä muokattu 3 kertaa.
Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 28.4.2006 8:40
Krooninen fatiikki on tutkimuksen mukaan yhteydessä geneettisiin ja ympäristöllisiin tekijöihin. Fatiikista on olemassa useita erilaisia muotoja joihin liitty erilaisia oireita ja geneettisiä profiileja. 75 %:ssa tapauksista poikkeavuuksia löytyi mm. sellaisista geeneistä jotka säätelivät elimistön serotoniini ja glutamaattipitoisuuksia. Kroonista fatiikkia sairastavilla esiintyi korkeita stressivasteeseen liittyviä hormonitasoja, verenpaine korkealla jne.
Studies Find Genetic Link for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
April 21, 2006
Chronic fatigue syndrome likely is caused by a group of five or more
genetic and environmental causes, according to CDC studies published on
Thursday in the journal Pharmacogenomics, the Washington Post reports.
For the studies, researchers over two days examined 227 residents of
Wichita, Kan., who underwent a series of blood tests, hormone studies,
psychological examinations and sleep studies. About one-fourth of
participants met the formal definition of chronic fatigue syndrome -- which
is characterized by unexplained extreme fatigue, difficulty with memory and
concentration, sleep disorders and chronic pain -- and one-fourth had milder
chronic fatigue.
In addition, a third group of participants met the formal definition of
chronic fatigue syndrome but also had melancholic depression, and a fourth
group was healthy.
Results
For one group of studies, researchers examined the activity levels of 20,000
genes involved in response to stresses such as infections, injuries or
emotional trauma and found that several hundred were overactive or
underactive in subgroups of participants with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Other studies that involved 50 genes with minor "misspellings" find a link
between five of the 500 genetic mutations examined and increased risk for
chronic fatigue syndrome (Weiss, Washington Post, 4/21).
Researchers also found that, among at least four different forms of chronic
fatigue syndrome, each which separate genetic profiles and symptoms, all
involved five polymorphisms in three genes in about 75% of cases (Maugh,
Los Angeles Times, 4/21).
The genes included those that affect serotonin and glutamate levels, which
are linked with depression and stress. According to one study, the activity
of 26 genes accurately predicted which of six forms of chronic fatigue
syndrome participants had based on symptoms and other tests. However, the
"correlations were weak" in most cases, and "the gene expression patterns
alone could not accurately distinguish those whose symptoms had been
diagnosed as the syndrome from those whose symptoms had not," according to
the Post (Washington Post, 4/21).
Researchers also found that participants with chronic fatigue syndrome had
high levels of hormone secretions, blood pressure and other responses to
stress.
Implications
According to the AP/New York Times, the studies could help lead to improved
diagnosis and treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as help predict
risk for the disease (AP/New York Times, 4/21).
Suzanne Vernon, a researcher involved with the studies, said, "There is a
clear biologic basis for CFS, and knowing the molecular damage involved will
help us devise effective therapeutic intervention and control strategies"
(Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 4/20).
CDC Director Julie Gerberding said, "This is the first credible evidence for
a biological basis for chronic fatigue syndrome" (Ricks, Long Island
Newsday, 4/21).
Lucinda Bateman, a physician with the Fatigue Consultation Clinic, said, "It
is very hard to treat an illness until you understand what it is
physiologically," adding, "This is a very important foundation" for new
treatments (Los Angeles Times, 4/21).
K. Kimberley McLeary, president and CEO of the Chronic Fatigue and Immune
Dysfunction Association of America, said, "Pharmaceutical companies have
been sitting on the sidelines because they have not been able to get their
hands around CFS. This gives them something to latch onto" (Los Angeles
Times, 4/21).
Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Friday reported on chronic fatigue syndrome. The
segment includes comments from Anthony Komaroff, a professor of medicine at
Harvard University; William Reeves, a researcher involved with the studies;
Vernon; and a U.S. resident with chronic fatigue syndrome (Silberner,
"Morning Edition," NPR, 4/21).
The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
Krooninen fatiikki on tutkimuksen mukaan yhteydessä geneettisiin ja ympäristöllisiin tekijöihin. Fatiikista on olemassa useita erilaisia muotoja joihin liitty erilaisia oireita ja geneettisiä profiileja. 75 %:ssa tapauksista poikkeavuuksia löytyi mm. sellaisista geeneistä jotka säätelivät elimistön serotoniini ja glutamaattipitoisuuksia. Kroonista fatiikkia sairastavilla esiintyi korkeita stressivasteeseen liittyviä hormonitasoja, verenpaine korkealla jne.
Studies Find Genetic Link for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
April 21, 2006
Chronic fatigue syndrome likely is caused by a group of five or more
genetic and environmental causes, according to CDC studies published on
Thursday in the journal Pharmacogenomics, the Washington Post reports.
For the studies, researchers over two days examined 227 residents of
Wichita, Kan., who underwent a series of blood tests, hormone studies,
psychological examinations and sleep studies. About one-fourth of
participants met the formal definition of chronic fatigue syndrome -- which
is characterized by unexplained extreme fatigue, difficulty with memory and
concentration, sleep disorders and chronic pain -- and one-fourth had milder
chronic fatigue.
In addition, a third group of participants met the formal definition of
chronic fatigue syndrome but also had melancholic depression, and a fourth
group was healthy.
Results
For one group of studies, researchers examined the activity levels of 20,000
genes involved in response to stresses such as infections, injuries or
emotional trauma and found that several hundred were overactive or
underactive in subgroups of participants with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Other studies that involved 50 genes with minor "misspellings" find a link
between five of the 500 genetic mutations examined and increased risk for
chronic fatigue syndrome (Weiss, Washington Post, 4/21).
Researchers also found that, among at least four different forms of chronic
fatigue syndrome, each which separate genetic profiles and symptoms, all
involved five polymorphisms in three genes in about 75% of cases (Maugh,
Los Angeles Times, 4/21).
The genes included those that affect serotonin and glutamate levels, which
are linked with depression and stress. According to one study, the activity
of 26 genes accurately predicted which of six forms of chronic fatigue
syndrome participants had based on symptoms and other tests. However, the
"correlations were weak" in most cases, and "the gene expression patterns
alone could not accurately distinguish those whose symptoms had been
diagnosed as the syndrome from those whose symptoms had not," according to
the Post (Washington Post, 4/21).
Researchers also found that participants with chronic fatigue syndrome had
high levels of hormone secretions, blood pressure and other responses to
stress.
Implications
According to the AP/New York Times, the studies could help lead to improved
diagnosis and treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as help predict
risk for the disease (AP/New York Times, 4/21).
Suzanne Vernon, a researcher involved with the studies, said, "There is a
clear biologic basis for CFS, and knowing the molecular damage involved will
help us devise effective therapeutic intervention and control strategies"
(Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 4/20).
CDC Director Julie Gerberding said, "This is the first credible evidence for
a biological basis for chronic fatigue syndrome" (Ricks, Long Island
Newsday, 4/21).
Lucinda Bateman, a physician with the Fatigue Consultation Clinic, said, "It
is very hard to treat an illness until you understand what it is
physiologically," adding, "This is a very important foundation" for new
treatments (Los Angeles Times, 4/21).
K. Kimberley McLeary, president and CEO of the Chronic Fatigue and Immune
Dysfunction Association of America, said, "Pharmaceutical companies have
been sitting on the sidelines because they have not been able to get their
hands around CFS. This gives them something to latch onto" (Los Angeles
Times, 4/21).
Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Friday reported on chronic fatigue syndrome. The
segment includes comments from Anthony Komaroff, a professor of medicine at
Harvard University; William Reeves, a researcher involved with the studies;
Vernon; and a U.S. resident with chronic fatigue syndrome (Silberner,
"Morning Edition," NPR, 4/21).
The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
Viimeksi muokannut Bb, Pe Huhti 09, 2010 14:45. Yhteensä muokattu 2 kertaa.
Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 18.5.2006 11:51
Hoito krooniseen fatiikkiin? Herpesinfektioiden hoitoon käytetty lääke, Valgansikloviiri, on auttanut useita kroonisesta fatiikista kärsiviä henkilöitä. Sellaisetkin henkilöt jotka eivät ole vuosiin kyenneet käymään ulkona, ovat lääkkeen ansiosta kyenneet jälleen viettämään normaalia elämää. Valgansikloviiria käytetään yleensä HHV-6 -infektioiden hoitoon.
Is this the cure for ME/CFS?
By JEROME BURNE, Daily Mail 11:33am 16th May 2006
A drug used to treat herpes infections has produced a dramatic improvement in patients severely affected by ME, or fatigue syndrome.
Sufferers who for years had been unable to leave their homes now report being able to resume normal life.
This is a remarkable result for a treatment for this complex and controversial disorder that is thought to affect as many as 240,000 people in Britain and for which there is no cure.
A herpes drug may improve patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
The results, reported at a scientific conference earlier this month by Professor Jose Montoya of Stanford University in California, involved 12 patients who had been given the powerful drug valganciclovir, which targets the human herpes virus (HHV-6). Nine of the patients experienced a great improvement.
One of Montoya's cases was onetime champion figure skater Donna Flowers, now aged 50 and working as a physiotherapist, who lives in California's Silicon Valley.
"Two years ago, I was spending 14 hours a day in bed and my brain was so fogged I couldn't write a letter," she says.
"I wasn't functioning at all. I'd been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, but the doctors didn't have anything to offer. I had to employ a full-time nanny just to look after my three-year-old twins."
However, she is now back at work, treating young Olympic hopefuls, the nanny has gone and she's just started ballet lessons.
'Soaring energy levels'
"When Donna came to see us, her energy levels were around 10 per cent of what she considered normal,' says Montoya. "Today, she is functioning at 90 per cent."
One patient who could barely walk around the block is now cycling three hours a day, while another who could not even get down the stairs to breakfast is now up every day at 7am.
The professor reported his findings at a conference on the HHV-6 virus, which was held in Barcelona earlier this month.
While it's well known that some patients with CFS have signs of various viral infections, this is the first time that treating one of the viruses has been shown to be so effective.
"I was amazed by the results," says Montoya, who runs the infectious diseases clinic at Stanford. "Donna was sent to me because high levels of another virus (Epstein Barr) had been detected in her system.
"I found high levels of HHV-6 virus as well, so I treated her with valganciclovir to bring down her viral load.
"I'd hoped it might help a bit, but I didn't expect the results to be anything like as dramatic. It was pure serendipity."
'Careful monitoring'
Valganciclovir is licensed to treat HHV-6 infections of the eye, which can affect transplant or cancer patients with severely weakened immune systems.
HHV-6 is not the same as the herpes virus responsible for cold sores. Most commonly, it causes roseola infantum in children, who get a fever and a rash.
"I have treated hundreds of immune compromised patients with the drug, so I am very familiar with it," says Montoya. "It can have serious side-effects including anaemia, so you have to monitor patients very carefully. But so far none of the CFS/ ME patients have reacted badly to it."
All the experts agree that a lot more research will have to be done before valganciclovir can be widely used as a treatment.
"There is a long history of linking CFS/ME with some sort of viral infection," says Charles Shepherd, a medical advisor to the charity Action For ME.
"About 75 per cent of cases begin with an infection which the patient never properly recovers from, so it is quite likely infectious agents lurk in the body. While the role of HHV-6 is certainly plausible, we will have to wait for a larger trial that is properly controlled."
Montoya agrees: "These were individual cases and it is always possible the results were due to a effect," he says.
However, that is unlikely because we saw a worsening of each patient's condition around week three to four of the treatment, probably when infected cells were dying off. After that came the improvement.
"That is not a pattern you get with placebos. But we don't know yet why the drug makes such a difference."
The possibility that valganciclovir could eventually provide an effective treatment for some cases of CFS is just part of a wider picture. Over the past year, genetic research has provided a new understanding of the disease that could eventually lead to new therapies.
For years, the conventional view has been that there is no known cause, no way to diagnose it and no effective treatment.
Some doctors and health workers believe it is the result of social and psychological factors ? and best treated with psychotherapy and exercise.
Now it is becoming clear these patients have "a disturbance in their body's natural way of dealing with infection," says Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sunderland.
"Anti-viral drugs such as valganciclovir may be allowing it to re-set itself."
Hooper was one of the speakers at a conference in London for ME Awareness Day on Friday. Another speaker was Dr Jonathan Kerr of St George's Medical School in London, who recently published groundbreaking work on the links between genes and CFS/ME.
"We've found that the genes in patients' white blood cells ? a key part of the immune system ? are switched on and off in an abnormal fashion," he says.
The hope is that a relatively old drug, called interferon beta, can help to restore the balance. A controlled trial is planned.
What researchers such as Kerr find disheartening is that there seems to be little official support for this biological-based research in Britain. The bulk of the funding has gone to the psychological approach.
Hoito krooniseen fatiikkiin? Herpesinfektioiden hoitoon käytetty lääke, Valgansikloviiri, on auttanut useita kroonisesta fatiikista kärsiviä henkilöitä. Sellaisetkin henkilöt jotka eivät ole vuosiin kyenneet käymään ulkona, ovat lääkkeen ansiosta kyenneet jälleen viettämään normaalia elämää. Valgansikloviiria käytetään yleensä HHV-6 -infektioiden hoitoon.
Is this the cure for ME/CFS?
By JEROME BURNE, Daily Mail 11:33am 16th May 2006
A drug used to treat herpes infections has produced a dramatic improvement in patients severely affected by ME, or fatigue syndrome.
Sufferers who for years had been unable to leave their homes now report being able to resume normal life.
This is a remarkable result for a treatment for this complex and controversial disorder that is thought to affect as many as 240,000 people in Britain and for which there is no cure.
A herpes drug may improve patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
The results, reported at a scientific conference earlier this month by Professor Jose Montoya of Stanford University in California, involved 12 patients who had been given the powerful drug valganciclovir, which targets the human herpes virus (HHV-6). Nine of the patients experienced a great improvement.
One of Montoya's cases was onetime champion figure skater Donna Flowers, now aged 50 and working as a physiotherapist, who lives in California's Silicon Valley.
"Two years ago, I was spending 14 hours a day in bed and my brain was so fogged I couldn't write a letter," she says.
"I wasn't functioning at all. I'd been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, but the doctors didn't have anything to offer. I had to employ a full-time nanny just to look after my three-year-old twins."
However, she is now back at work, treating young Olympic hopefuls, the nanny has gone and she's just started ballet lessons.
'Soaring energy levels'
"When Donna came to see us, her energy levels were around 10 per cent of what she considered normal,' says Montoya. "Today, she is functioning at 90 per cent."
One patient who could barely walk around the block is now cycling three hours a day, while another who could not even get down the stairs to breakfast is now up every day at 7am.
The professor reported his findings at a conference on the HHV-6 virus, which was held in Barcelona earlier this month.
While it's well known that some patients with CFS have signs of various viral infections, this is the first time that treating one of the viruses has been shown to be so effective.
"I was amazed by the results," says Montoya, who runs the infectious diseases clinic at Stanford. "Donna was sent to me because high levels of another virus (Epstein Barr) had been detected in her system.
"I found high levels of HHV-6 virus as well, so I treated her with valganciclovir to bring down her viral load.
"I'd hoped it might help a bit, but I didn't expect the results to be anything like as dramatic. It was pure serendipity."
'Careful monitoring'
Valganciclovir is licensed to treat HHV-6 infections of the eye, which can affect transplant or cancer patients with severely weakened immune systems.
HHV-6 is not the same as the herpes virus responsible for cold sores. Most commonly, it causes roseola infantum in children, who get a fever and a rash.
"I have treated hundreds of immune compromised patients with the drug, so I am very familiar with it," says Montoya. "It can have serious side-effects including anaemia, so you have to monitor patients very carefully. But so far none of the CFS/ ME patients have reacted badly to it."
All the experts agree that a lot more research will have to be done before valganciclovir can be widely used as a treatment.
"There is a long history of linking CFS/ME with some sort of viral infection," says Charles Shepherd, a medical advisor to the charity Action For ME.
"About 75 per cent of cases begin with an infection which the patient never properly recovers from, so it is quite likely infectious agents lurk in the body. While the role of HHV-6 is certainly plausible, we will have to wait for a larger trial that is properly controlled."
Montoya agrees: "These were individual cases and it is always possible the results were due to a effect," he says.
However, that is unlikely because we saw a worsening of each patient's condition around week three to four of the treatment, probably when infected cells were dying off. After that came the improvement.
"That is not a pattern you get with placebos. But we don't know yet why the drug makes such a difference."
The possibility that valganciclovir could eventually provide an effective treatment for some cases of CFS is just part of a wider picture. Over the past year, genetic research has provided a new understanding of the disease that could eventually lead to new therapies.
For years, the conventional view has been that there is no known cause, no way to diagnose it and no effective treatment.
Some doctors and health workers believe it is the result of social and psychological factors ? and best treated with psychotherapy and exercise.
Now it is becoming clear these patients have "a disturbance in their body's natural way of dealing with infection," says Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sunderland.
"Anti-viral drugs such as valganciclovir may be allowing it to re-set itself."
Hooper was one of the speakers at a conference in London for ME Awareness Day on Friday. Another speaker was Dr Jonathan Kerr of St George's Medical School in London, who recently published groundbreaking work on the links between genes and CFS/ME.
"We've found that the genes in patients' white blood cells ? a key part of the immune system ? are switched on and off in an abnormal fashion," he says.
The hope is that a relatively old drug, called interferon beta, can help to restore the balance. A controlled trial is planned.
What researchers such as Kerr find disheartening is that there seems to be little official support for this biological-based research in Britain. The bulk of the funding has gone to the psychological approach.