Health: Study Isolates Virus In Chronic Fatigue Sufferers

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*Study Isolates Virus In Chronic Fatigue Sufferers*

*Fri Oct 9, 2009 3:25pm EDT*

 

*By David

Morgan<http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us & n=david.morgan & \

>

*

 

*

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5974WC20091009?feedType=nl & feed\

Name=ushealth200

*

 

*WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A virus linked to prostate cancer also appears to

play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome, according to research that could

lead to the first drug treatments for a mysterious disorder that affects 17

million people worldwide.*

 

*Researchers found the virus, known as XMRV, in the blood of 68 out of 101

chronic fatigue syndrome patients. The same virus showed up in only 8 of 218

healthy people, they reported on Thursday in the journal Science.*

 

*Judy Mikovits of the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Nevada and colleagues

at the National Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic emphasized that

the finding only shows a link between the virus and chronic fatigue

syndrome, or CFS, and does not prove that the pathogen causes the disorder.*

 

*Much more study would be necessary to show a direct link, but Mikovits said

the study offers hope that CFS sufferers might gain relief from a cocktail

of drugs designed to fight AIDS, cancer and inflammation.*

 

* " You can imagine a number of combination therapies that could be quite

effective and could at least be used in clinical trials right away, "

Mikovits said in a telephone interview.*

 

*She said AIDS drugs such as reverse transcriptase inhibitors and integrase

inhibitors as well as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and

cancer-fighting proteasome inhibitors could be tested as potential

treatments for CFS.*

 

*Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd makes a cancer drug called Velcade that is a

proteasome inhibitor, although there are no reports that it has been tested

against XMRV.*

 

*Biochemist Stuart Le Grice of the National Cancer Institute, who also

worked on the study, said some AIDS drugs may be ineffective against XMRV

because many are tailor-made for HIV.*

 

* " But we've learned a lot from HIV, and if XMRV does become a serious issue,

we can bring that to bear very quickly, " La Grice said.*

 

*INCAPACITATING FATIGUE*

 

*CFS impairs the immune system and causes incapacitating fatigue, according

to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sufferers can also

experience memory loss, problems with concentration, joint and muscle pain,

headaches, tender lymph nodes and sore throats.*

 

*Symptoms last at least six months and can be as disabling as multiple

sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, the CDC said.*

 

*But Mikovits said there is currently no treatment for CFS aside from

cognitive behavioral therapy to help patients cope with the disorder's

crippling effects.*

 

*The XMRV virus is a retrovirus, like the HIV virus that causes AIDS. As

with all viruses, a retrovirus copies its genetic code into the DNA of its

host but uses RNA -- a working form of DNA -- instead of using DNA to do so.

*

 

*Known formally as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, XMRV has

also been found in some prostate tumors and is also known to cause leukemia

and tumors in animals.*

 

*Mikovits' team said further research must now determine whether XMRV

directly causes CFS, is just a passenger virus in the suppressed immune

systems of sufferers or a pathogen that acts in concert with other viruses

that have been implicated in the disorder by previous research.*

 

* " Conceivably these viruses could be co-factors in pathogenesis, as is the

case for HIV-mediated disease, where co-infecting pathogens play an

important role, " the report said.*

 

*Because 3.7 percent of the healthy test population tested positive for

XMRV, the researchers said several million otherwise healthy people in the

United States could be infected with it.*

 

*(Editing by Maggie Fox.)*

*© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.*

 

 

 

found this info on another site & thought i would share it

charlene

 

Many people today suffer from chronic pain that is diagnosed as fibromyalgia

because doctors don't know what causes it. Many people have found that

changing their diets to all natural makes a huge difference. Many people who

suffer from fibromyalgia benefit greatly by elementing gluten and other

common allergy foods from their diets, such as dairy, nuts, corn, soy, etc.

Also, I would highly recommend if you consume anything that's " low fat " or

" sugar free " and it contains asparatame that you will see a difference in

how you feel by totally eliminating it from your diet. It is dangerous.