A breakthrough has been made regarding CFIDS ~ I could not wait to share it! Basically, what I got from reading the transcript is that CFIDS patients are genetically predispositioned to be unable to tolerate stress normally, along with pituitary and nervous system problems. Well, some of this we knew. But there just wasn’t anything to PROVE it. Now they have found it. I know a lot of CFIDS patients will think that people are still saying that it is all in our heads due to the stress finding. But it’s not – it is a real, physical abnormality in our genetic makeup.
The briefing transcript from 4/20/06 included the CDC Director, Dr. Julie Gerberding, and two principle CFIDS researchers at the CDC, Dr. William Reeves and Dr. Suzanne Vernon. CDC scientists have worked with additional experts in medicine, molecular biology, epidemiology, genomics, mathematics, engineering and physics to analyze and interpret information gathered from approx. 230 patients with CFIDS.
The objective was to identify factors that could have caused or be related to CFS. “For the first time ever, the CDC has documented that people with CFIDS have certain genes that are related to those parts of brain activity that mediate stress response. CFIDS sufferers also have different gene activity levels, this is outside which genes are there, that are related tot heir body’s ability to adapt to challenges and stresses that occur throughout life, such as infections, injury, trauma or various adverse events. Knowing that there is now a biologic basis for CFS will help us identify better ways to more effectively diagnose the illness and to come up with more effective treatments, including cognitive behavioral therapy, medications or a combination of both”.
The doctors also stated that they found a variety of genetic differences, all of which were related either to the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis or to the sympathetic nervous system.
The CDC researchers have shown now is that “in addition to differences in gene activity, there are differences in the actual genetic makeup – the DNA code – that could explain the differences in the gene activity and also results in the manifestations of the illness itself”.
The researchers stated that they could not give a timeframe as to when the diagnosis methods discovered and treatment options will be available.
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