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The state of my health has spiralled downwards this year and is now dire, so this will be the last major blog from me for the forseeable future. If my energy levels improve, I might in future be able to write some shorter blogs on simpler subjects, which might be a relief for everyone. There...

I'm sure cost is a big factor: the metabolomics analysis in particular is very expensive. Although they have 100/100 patients/controls in the full sample, only 50/50 are definitely included in the exercise study, though Ian Lipkin said they hope to expand that to 75/75. All 100/100 will do the...

Part 2 of the blog about Dr Ian Lipkin's Collaborative, now up at ME/CFS Research Review The heart of ME/CFS? Lipkin’s Collaborative probes the impact of exertion The hallmark symptom of ME/CFS is post-exertional malaise (PEM), a prolonged, grim and disproportionate response to exertion. While...

Good to see that the teaser worked :-). Coming next week

New blog at ME/CFS Research Review The microbiome hypothesis: Dr Ian Lipkin's collaborative, part 1 A gut reaction is the problem in ME/CFS – that’s the main idea being pursued by Dr Ian W. Lipkin of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. He believes that the body’s...

I like this: Endpoints: The study will compare pre- and post-treatment differences, in exercise performance and function during recovery, using a combination of objective and subjective endpoints. Objectively, we will measure exercise performance (via blood gases, work, time to ventilatory...

Interesting video, worth a 5 min watch. A few things that struck me: 1. Mark Davis is joing Principal Investigator along with Ron Davis, which probably isn't surprising given that MD is the immunology expert. 2. Bit more about HLA (see my blog on this) They will use new technology to sequence...

Whoops: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28477-9 Original post corrected. Thanks. And I'll rest better once the blog is finally out of the door. Pacing perfectly in the meantime, of course...

Nice try! Sorry, don't even have the energy to read the paper. However, I'm relying on the summary from @Trish , and over at PR Murf posted this: Six thoughts 1. They confirm some of the previous metabolomic findings - ceramides and phospholipids. 2. They find (yet) another subgroup that can...

If there is a link between HLA and ME/CFS it wouldn't directly leads to to treatment. However, if HLA are shown to be a risk factor, that would point strongly to an infectious or autoimmune cause. It is possible the finding would help researchers to track down the specific infections/autoimmune...

The biobank sample is currently too small (it probably needs 1,000 patients or more) and HLA genes are hard to sequence for technical reasons. Ron has invented a new sequencing method that he will apply in his new study. Thanks. I had to sort out the risk link gremlin in the source code...

New blog at ME/CFS Research Review Dr Ron Davis has won a large NIH (US National Institutes of Health) grant for an immunology project with a strong focus on HLA genes. Which may have led some to wonder, ‘What are they?’ HLA (human leukocyte antigen) molecules play a critical role in the...

Good point. There’s a lot of time and resources being ploughed into this hot topic by some excellent researchers. That’s not so unusual in many fields. Wouldn’t it be great if it became commonplace for ME/CFS research?

Yes. For clarity, the PhD is funded to £90k (half from AfME, half from the Scottish Chief Scientist's Office). Chris will cover direct costs for kit etc from his lab budget. I don't have figures, but wouldn't be surprised if the final cost is closer to £150k. In addition, the core technology...

Answers from Chris Ponting: 1. People recruited: 500,000 of whom over 2,000 people were self-reporting as having been diagnosed with ME/CFS. Yes, those who were housebound are clearly underrepresented. 2. Yes, [as per Jonathan Edwards explanation], it's less likely to be a critical amino acid...

This looks very encouraging to me. The most important thing is that it is a pitch for more funds to the Medical Research Council's Population and Systems Medicine board. I will charitably assume that accounts for the rather glossy history of the CMRC. The document highlights the key symptom of...