Jonathan Edwards
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
There seems no doubt that ME/CFS of the same sort can be mild/mod or severe. However, I think it is quite plausible that people with a diagnosis of ME/CFS fall into two main groups. One of those (A) may also include quite a range of at least partly unrelated problems. I think it likely that the other one (B) has a single central causal path.
I think it is quite possible that A is more or less always mild/moderate but B goes through to severe.
The result then is that studying severe cases gives meaningful answers but if you study A+B you may get a lemon. I also think that it is quite possible that things that are up or down in B are down or up in A. If we are talking about receptor interactions it is quite common to have two similar looking illnesses with some abnormalities opposite.
I think it is quite possible that A is more or less always mild/moderate but B goes through to severe.
The result then is that studying severe cases gives meaningful answers but if you study A+B you may get a lemon. I also think that it is quite possible that things that are up or down in B are down or up in A. If we are talking about receptor interactions it is quite common to have two similar looking illnesses with some abnormalities opposite.