Royal College of Physicians article: "Do you really believe in ME?" by Dr Nina Muirhead

https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/do-you-really-believe-me

 

Thank you so much, Dr. Nina Muirhead - not many doctors are open about having ME, even less also share their experience. We know the stigma you face, thank you <3

Just like to highlight this part, it's such a strong statement:

 

Nice one.

 

What do you think of this statement:

"The reality is ME/CFS is a serious, heritable, neurological condition and I was shocked to discover subsequently that my grandmother had died from it aged 42."

I had not heard of it being heritable. I wonder whether it was on her grandmother's death certificate.

 

It does seem to run in families, as people here will testify, but of course that does not necessarily mean it is inherited. I hope it isn't.

 

Speaking of deconditioning. In the last few months I've experimented and intentionally changed my time spent upright patterns. It seems that avoiding sitting and walking for a week is noticable in some bad ways too. It felt like there was a new feeling of lazy tiredness. Is this the terrible deconditioning I heard about? If so, how can anyone think this could be confused with an illness?

 

There was a recent report from a very large epidemiological study in the US suggesting that there was a significant genetic component, even if we so far cannot identify specific genes for sure.

We all carry risk genes for some chronic illness or other and they get resorted by generation so I am not sure genetic factors are any more worrying than ubiquitous environmental factors that may be harder to shake off! Epstein Barr virus shows no sign of being got rid of for instance.

 

Many, many things have a genetic component - being trampled by elephants has several genes involved that determine the risk.

Genes that determine things like whether or not you're a shark for example

Then there are environmental factors - living in Manchester decreases the risk of being trampled by elephants considerably.

A shark living in Manchester....

 

At least some of the ME/CFS forms are heritable. This is fairly obvious from the many reports of families where more than one person has it. There are even more families where one person has full blown ME/CFS and at least another person has some vague fatigueing illness nobody can diagnose. Presumably that is ME/CFS so mild that it cannot be diagnosed without more accurate tools which we don't have at the moment. Both anecdotal reports and studies have found this.

 

The UK is infested with sharks, believe me ...

 

Actually I don't think it is that obvious. Just because people in the same family have the same condition, does not necessarily mean the medical condition itself has been inherited. It could be that some trait has been inherited, which then causes people to share something common to the way they live, their environment, whatever, that might put them at higher risk. As per @Wonko's example of being trampled by elephants. I don't think there is enough proof either way yet.

 

There is a fibreglass one diving in to the roof of a house close to the psychiatric hospital near Headington in Oxford -look it up on the internet.

 

It has repeatedly said that many with ME are 'atopic', have allergies and intolerances. I think the figure was about 60%. It applies in my family, husband/son.

 

A night out on the tiles that went wrong maybe.

 

My wife would fit that.

 

But is it any danger of being trampled by elephants? My argument stands

 

Were you thinking of this one?
Mitochondrial DNA variants correlate with symptoms in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
(2016) Maureen Hanson et al, Cornell University
https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-016-0771-6

According to 23andme I have mitochondrial (maternal) haplogroup H. In the above study this is associated with "feeling dead" after exercise.

 

Beautiful day' s book explored haplotype gene associations. Interesting stuff ( my aunt is a J)

 

Only when it gets in the room.