Can anyone comment on the legitimacy of this Acumen test in the UK with Dr. McLaren? Not opinion based, but fact based? I am extremely extremely interested in getting this testing done, but confused why its not available anywhere else through anyone else. Very reminiscent of the whole "Lyme Disease Doctor" phenomenon (we use our own labs, we reject results from all legit labs like Labcorp, everyone is out to get us, you can only get it through me, you must pay cash, etc etc etc) ....
Valentijn Sushi heapsreal
If this thing is legit, im on the next plane to the UK.
There's no reason to think it's not legit. My first concern would be that it really doesn't cover much ground compared to other tests you can get for a similar price. My second concern is that it's only looking at a few potential deficiencies, and the rest is basically saying "Okay, you really are fatigued" (which would be great if any doctors in the UK gave a damn about that result).
I think testing aimed at ferreting out potential causes of problems is a lot more useful. For broader testing, that might be organic and/or amino acid urine testing, etc, where you have a list of dozens of substances and conclusions can be tentatively drawn based on their levels relative to each other, such as which vitamins you might need more of to convert Elevated-Substance X into Deficient Substance Y. Very limited, specific testing for those deficiencies would make sense if all ME/CFS patients had the same limited and specific problems, but that is not the case.
For narrower testing (if your symptoms and/or earlier test results are pointing in a certain direction), there are various viral, or HPA, or general immune-related, etc tests, which are mainstream and can be privately ordered.
One example is with organic acids tests - they include measurements of many substances involved in the Kreb's Cycle, where ATP is produced. Some people have poor results for the entire thing, which suggests the problem is at the beginning of the cycle or before. But some have normal results until they get to a certain stage, meaning they have trouble converting one specific substance into another - but they might be able to "recover" somewhat if they supplement the vitamins involved in that conversion to help it out, or find a way to feed more proteins into the Kreb's cycle as an alternative way to boost that deficient stage.
"ATP deficiency" looks good on paper and provides legitimacy, both for the patient and friends/family, but is unlikely to lead to any specific treatment.