MeSci
ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
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I'm posing this question because another member commented in another thread that he did not trust his work.
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There was no work cited in that comment, just a general statement. However it was in response to my posting a comment on an earlier Maes paper showing high levels of autoantibodies in ME, though not specific autoantibodies. There is a thread on this somewhere.Can you post a link to that comment, so we can read what work this concerns.
I like the work of Maes a lot and not only in CFS but he hasn´t found a definite cause and therefore treatment yet. He abandoned the Leaky Gut thing a while ago because only a subset of CFS people cured or improved significantly with it (this subset of people was not surprisingly characterized by younger age and less time of disease)
For me, leaky gut is an important factor but is logical than in degenerative cases of years or decades other things have become limiting factors like HPA dysregulation. Plus things like Lyme and other chronic infections should be taken into account. The involved variables are many and it is unlikely to find a single cause for everyone, which is what researchers seems to be obsessed with. A more broad or "holistic" view is needed IMO.
The work of Maes is in fact one of my favourites. In his last work he digs deeper in the inflammatory condition of depression. We need more researchers like him. Here you have a good list from google scholar: http://scholar.google.es/citations?...=1wzMZ7UAAAAJ&pagesize=100&view_op=list_works
Biological underpinnings of the commonalities in depression, somatization, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Anderson G, Maes M, Berk M.
Med Hypotheses. 2012 Jun;78(6):752-6. Epub 2012 Mar 23.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Somatization is a multisomatoform disorder characterized by medically unexplained, functional or psychosomatic symptoms. Similar somatic symptoms are key components of depression and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
METHODS:
This paper reviews the evidence that such symptoms are organically based. We use the term "physio-somatic" to describe these symptoms.
RESULTS:
Inflammation, cell-mediated immune (CMI) activation and alterations in the tryptophan catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway are associated with the physio-somatic symptoms of depression, ME/CFS and/or somatization. Proinflammatory cytokines, decreased tryptophan and aberrations in TRYCATs may cause physio-somatic symptoms, such as fatigue, autonomic symptoms, hyperalgesia and somatic presentations.
CONCLUSIONS:
The data suggest co-ordinated and interacting biological pathways driving the occurrence of physio-somatic symptoms across these three disorders, giving a biologically validated "pathway phenotype". These data have far-reaching implications for DSM-IV diagnostic conceptualizations of somatization (and ME/CFS) suggesting the presence of an emerging organic explanation.
Future research should focus on the role of immune regulation, and co-ordination, of neuronal activity and, through larger data sets, ultimately creating new, biologically validated classification rules.
These data have implications for the development of novel therapies utilizing these insights, buttressing the role of psychotherapy in psychosomatic presentations. (my bold)
Well, I don't trust this at all. The last line - therapies? Why not treatments? Psychotherapy for ME to treat the biological underpinnings? . Puleez and really? Psychosomatic presentations? I am extra cranky today from extreme nausea so I better stop even though I could go on. Oh and just why the heck is he comparing ME to depression anyways? Why not compare it to MS, AIDs, Cancer? I know he has done other research that I haven't read but this is really awful.
I can't figure out which camp he is standing in from this abstract. I do have a degree of brain fog, which isn't helping, but it's not clear to me whether he is talking about moving towards a biological explanation of illnesses considered to be mental, or not. The 'buttressing' and 'psychosomatic' references don't help my confusion! Could he have, or pretend to have, a foot in both camps in order to increase the chances of publication?
From what I have read, Maes is a big proposer of the phyisiological side of what is labelled as "mental illness". See his work on depression and inflammatory markers or suicidality and elevated oxidative stress.
I want to add something interesting that gives a bit of vailidity to the psycho-babble crowd though, people getting stress do get more inflammatory cytokines in blood, mice that fail in fighting and become "losers that do not get laid" also express inflammatory genes and lastly adults that suffered abuse or trauma as kids get chronic illness more often.
So it is true that psychology has a role in disease but the belief that some illnesses are purely psychogenic is very damaging to patients as the physical factors are far more important.
I don't know what he's doing either. The title of the paper is enough to set my blood boiling -- Biological underpinnings of the commonalities in depression, somatization, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I can't imagine a paper called 'Biological underpinnings of the commonalities in depression, somatization, and Multiple Sclerosis/Cancer/AIDs/Diabetes etc' with the offering of 'therapies' and the 'buttressing of the role of psychotherapy in psychosomatic presentations' of these diseases/illnesses. It's actually quite Wessely-like -- him saying, yes, there are organic things going on but you still need psychotheraputic interventions to rid yourself of ME. Tying ME to somatization which is an unproven psychiatric disorder akin to hysteria is ridiculous. Would you tie cancer, diabetes to somatization. I just can't trust somebody who further insults the ME community in this manner. If he wants to study biological underpinnings then he should leave the psychobabble out totally. Hope that all made sense.
Yes, I don't like the wording either. Maybe it was one of the other authors who wrote/oversaw the wording? It doesn't really sound like Maes to me.
These findings have far-reaching consequences. (a) Functional "somatic" symptoms, classically explained by psychological factors, appear to have a biological substrate. (b) This challenges current DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for somatization, depression, and ME/CFS, and suggests revision, based on the incorporation of biological markers.