
Chronic fatigue syndrome is in your gut, not your head - wslh
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627160939.htm
======
zanchey
A misleading headline for a diagnostic test with moderate sensitivity and
unstated specificity.

I desperately want to believe that chronic fatigue syndrome is as simple as a
microbiological imbalance and I hope that we can see some stronger proof but
this is an illness that has foxed us for a long time.

From UpToDate, my current preferred summary resource
([https://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-features-and-
diag...](https://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-features-and-diagnosis-of-
systemic-exertion-intolerance-disease-chronic-fatigue-syndrome) but
extortionate subscription required, sorry):

"The proposed diagnosis was chronic brucellosis from the 1930s to the 1950s
and hypoglycemia from the 1950s to the 1970s. Other hypotheses have included
chronic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection [11-13], purported chronic Lyme
disease, total allergy syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome [14],
chronic candidiasis [15], and xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus
(XMRV) and related retroviruses, such as murine leukemia virus (MLV) [16,17].
None of these etiologic agents have been scientifically linked to the
SEID/CFS."

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

~~~
greenyoda
Also, the article says: "The researchers have no evidence to distinguish
whether the altered gut microbiome is a cause or a whether it is a consequence
of disease".

If the altered gut microbiome is a consequence rather than a cause, the cause
isn't necessarily even in the gut.

------
pc2g4d
My mom suffered from CFS for years, so this got my attention. My current best
explanation for my mom's illness is, unfortunately, that it was in her head,
given her many other mental and emotional problems. But could it be the other
way around---that the CFS had a biophysiological origin and was a cause (or at
least exacerbater) of the mental problems? Somehow I'd like to believe that as
it would make her illness comprehensible and more easily treatable. But maybe
this current find won't pan out as an explanation.

