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I think the way to go is to characterise the peripheral features first (cytokines, energy production). Then if you want to go into the brain, you are armed with a set of phenomena that you need to explain. Because the symptoms of ME are so variable and most are so peripheral, it would be a tough...

I think there's a pretty coherent explanation for epilepsy: an abnormality in neural firing patterns within a region of brain tissue. Covers pretty much every facet of the phenomenology of epilepsy. Its the distal cause of that abnormality (why it occurs in a particular person) that is not well...

PS. I've already banged on way to long about the brain (and there's lots of other good stuff in the talk aside from the brain stuff). But why do researchers act so astonished when a systemic illness like ME affects cognitive functioning? Given that the brain is probably the most finely tuned...

Can I just say I LOVE this guy! He's so adorably down to earth and unpolished, eh? Okay, now to answer your question. First, he makes the comment that there are a lot of cognitive symptoms in ME and they might be a consequence of inflammation within the brain. We need to study that more. Fair...

Thanks for posting, @Sue Klaus. My first reaction was empathy for what you must be going through. So much pain! But then my second was, "Yes, we do need a better vocabulary to describe our symptoms in general!". I think your level of pain is unusually high, even amongst those of us with ME. I'm...

I can't speak for the whole of science, but evolutionary psychology is very problematic imo. Researchers trawl through various behaviours and identify ones they think they can make a nice evolutionary story out of. There's no genuine hypothesis testing - no-one ever tries to use an evolutionary...

We've all got it tough, but being in Germany, that's probably the toughest gig of all! All those neo-Freudians. Honestly, the sorts of things you've been told are really way out there, even worse that the UK BPS bridage. At least they're moved on from "inner unresolved conflict". Yes, it's all...

"flabby"!! love it! :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:!

Oh!:cry: It really was none to soon that you found out! Yes, I have heard of doctors prescribing Methotrexate, which can sort of act as a "steroid-sparing" drug. It might enable you to control the flares with lower doses of steroids and therefore less side effects (which eventually include not...

Thanks, @Amw66! A bit better now, but 4 weeks later, still feeling the effects. I learned lots about what happens to you immune-wise after a vaccination challenge. The first thing that happens is the inflammatory reaction, which starts within the first 24 hours. I got my bloods done on Day 4...

I believe that in many of those reported cases, the HPV vax could have genuinely triggered the ME*. But those cases are probably so rare that they're unlikely to show up on any population database. Besides, more importantly, if it hadn't been that trigger, I suspect it would have been...

Presumably, when Fluge and Mella analyse their adverse effects data, they'll be able to tell us if there's any evidence for a subgroup getting worse on ritux. It seems to me its entirely possible, given that ritux is an immune suppressor.

Yes, I'm a bit taken aback by the posts above describing PEM as an energy shutdown, because its nothing like that for me. The experience after exertion is more like I've stirred up a hornet's nest of nasty fluey sickness, aching and soreness. I'm weird, and don't think I'm a typical case at...

If you go back to the OP here, I did a brief intro to the concept. No, the concept definitely encompasses more than just cellular level stuff.

Thanks for posting @TrixieStix. Yours sounds like yet another case that fitted the criteria for MECFS to start with, until other easily observable things started to show. Reading your story, I noticed that no-one actually offered you this diagnosis - you had to ferret it out for yourself. I...

Here's something we should all be aware of. Some psychological/behavioural explanations of ME posit that thoughts and behaviours under voluntary control contribute to the illness. These can be modified through standard cognitive-behavioural therapy. For example, patients' beliefs can be...

If you're interested @barbc, there's a fascinating book by John Bradshaw called "In defence of dogs". He puts all these arguments forward, and describes many of the delightful little social gestures that go on between members of a wolf pack - play, nuzzling, etc. There's a nice review here...

I just saw this. In general, I'm not in favour of neuroimaging research into ME. At best it doesn't lead to any new treatment options; at worst, it generates misleading, false positive results that are open to misuse by the "central sensitisation" crowd. But if there's any type of brain-related...

anthropomorphism? I think we humans have a history of underestimating animals. All part of our overconfidence and arrogance. Animals are often the butt of overzealous theorists, and being unable to speak up for themselves, they are considered fair game (sound familiar?). Some of the bullshit...

Apparently, lots of these predatory journals have clever tricks to make them look "legit". For example, including superfluous citations of their own journals' article - to make the impact factor (journal citation rates) look bigger.