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Wikipedia XMRV

spindrift

Plays With Voodoo Dollies
Messages
286
I couldn't stop myself from adding a word. :innocent1:

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is a gammaretrovirus that was first described in 2006.[1] XMRV has been isolated from human biological samples. Several reports have associated the virus with familial and sporadic prostate cancer,[2][3] but other reports do not find a link.[4][5] Similarly, a 2009 publication reported a possible association with chronic fatigue syndrome,[6] but three other studies found no evidence of XMRV in patients or controls.[7][8][9] XMRV has not yet been established as a cause of either disease.[10]
 

omerbasket

Senior Member
Messages
510
Agree with you. It's all in the "mood" you can feel from the text:
- "XMRV has not been established as a cause of either disease" - The average reader would probably think to himself: "Well, probably XMRV does nothing".
- "XMRV has not yet been established as a cause of either disease" - The average reader would probably think to himself: "I should try to avoid getting infected by XMRV".

I think that when the best study yet about XMRV and ME/CFS, which has to be the WPI's study as we have seen all the flaws in the other 3 studies, found evidence for XMRV infection in 99 from 101 patients - it's most likely that XMRV does cause ME/CFS - although we cannot say that for sure.
 
G

Gerwyn

Guest
I couldn't stop myself from adding a word. :innocent1:

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is a gammaretrovirus that was first described in 2006.[1] XMRV has been isolated from human biological samples. Several reports have associated the virus with familial and sporadic prostate cancer,[2][3] but other reports do not find a link.[4][5] Similarly, a 2009 publication reported a possible association with chronic fatigue syndrome,[6] but three other studies found no evidence of XMRV in patients or controls.[7][8][9] XMRV has not yet been established as a cause of either disease.[10]

totally excellent!
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
Unfortunately, the change only lasted 28 minutes on Wikipedia. I get the feeling that some kind an alert goes out when the page is changed. Still, a valiant effort.
 

spindrift

Plays With Voodoo Dollies
Messages
286
It really makes you wonder who would be eager enough to take that little word out
of there so fast. :cool:
 

ixchelkali

Senior Member
Messages
1,107
Location
Long Beach, CA
The National Cancer Institute XMRV page says "The virus has been linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome, but currently, there is no evidence that the virus causes a disease." You'd think that if "currently" is good enough for the NCI, it should be good enough for Wikipedia.

The reference that was cited says "From the few studies published to date, it is not yet clear whether XMRV is a direct cause of one or both of these diseases."

However, I agree that the Wiki war is probably a lost cause. It would take someone working on it full-time, and even then, I've heard that some people have been banned from Wikipedia for consistantly trying to bring the Lyme and CFS pages into the 21st century.
 

Adam

Senior Member
Messages
495
Location
Sheffield UK
CDC XMRV pages

It is worth noting that the CDC website says:

What is XMRV?

XMRV is a newly identified human retrovirus that is similar to a mouse retrovirus that scientists have known about for years. XMRV refers to xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus. It was first identified in samples of human prostate cancer tissue. Some additional studies have suggested that a high percentage of persons with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may be infected with XMRV, but this result needs to be confirmed by other groups of scientists.

The frequency of XMRV infection in healthy persons and the potential role of this virus in causing diseases such as prostate cancer and CFS are unknown at this time. If it is determined that XMRV may have a role in causing disease and illness, prevention recommendations can be made.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/bp_xmrv_qa.html

It is also worth noting that the CDC makes no reference to any of the negative studies:

XMRV is a newly identified human retrovirus that is similar to a mouse retrovirus that scientists have known about for years. XMRV refers to xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus. It was first identified in samples of human prostate cancer tissue.

In a study published in October 2009, scientists reported a potential association of XMRV with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In this study, XMRV was detected in approximately two-thirds of patients diagnosed with CFS and 3.7 percent of controls.

The frequency of XMRV infection in healthy persons and the potential role of this virus in causing diseases such as prostate cancer and CFS are unknown at this time. If it is determined that XMRV may have a role in causing disease and illness, prevention recommendations can be made.

The report of the October 2009 published study also identified DNA of XMRV in the blood cells of some healthy persons, and suggests a potential for XMRV transmission by transfusion or transplantation. At present, although it is theoretically plausible that XMRV can be transmitted through blood transfusion, no such transmission event has been identified, and there is no known evidence of XMRV infection or XMRV-related illness in transfusion recipients.

These recent findings and a potential link with prostate cancer and CFS must be scientifically and independently evaluated. Several studies are underway to evaluate the risk of XMRV transmission through blood transfusion. Agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are conducting studies to determine the prevalence of XMRV in the blood donor population. HHS scientists are also working with scientists in industry and academia to determine if XMRV can be transmitted by blood transfusion. If a link between XMRV and transfusion is established, action will be taken to reduce the risk.

Additionally, a Public Health Service (PHS) working group plans to coordinate testing of specimens to assess transfusion-transmissibility of XMRV. If an agent is found to be transmissible by blood, studies must begin quickly to evaluate if the agent causes disease in transfusion recipients.

HHS agencies, including CDC, will continue to keep the public updated and informed as more information becomes accessible from each of the studies being conducted.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/bp_xmrv.html
 

Adam

Senior Member
Messages
495
Location
Sheffield UK
AABB XMRV Fact Sheet

A few snippets from the AABB Fact Sheet:

Priority Level - Scientific/Epidemiologic evidence regarding blood safety: Theoretical; transmission from transfusion has not been documented in humans, although pathogenic retroviruses (I.e. HIV and HTLV) are clearly transfusion transmitted.

At the foot of the background information, which details all the studies up to the Dutch study they state:

Reasons for the discordant findings are not clear but may include differences in the cohorts studies or selection of patients from cohorts for testing, variable assay procedures, differences in prevalence in different geographic areas (that old chestnut!), varying properties of XMRV and other factors.

My comment in Bold.

Below is the lengthy list of unknowns:

Common Human exposure Routes

Likelihood of Secondary Transmission

At Risk populations

Vector and Reservoir Involved

Survival/Persistence in Blood products

Transmission by Blood Transfusion

Incubation Period

Likelihood of Clinical Disease

Treatment Available/Efficacious

The fact sheet is downloadable/Printable but not able to save? from a link on the WSJ Health Blog


http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/04...health-officials-about-xmrv-2/?forumid=331851
 

justinreilly

Senior Member
Messages
2,498
Location
NYC (& RI)
The National Cancer Institute XMRV page says "The virus has been linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome, but currently, there is no evidence that the virus causes a disease." You'd think that if "currently" is good enough for the NCI, it should be good enough for Wikipedia.

The reference that was cited says "From the few studies published to date, it is not yet clear whether XMRV is a direct cause of one or both of these diseases."

However, I agree that the Wiki war is probably a lost cause. It would take someone working on it full-time, and even then, I've heard that some people have been banned from Wikipedia for consistantly trying to bring the Lyme and CFS pages into the 21st century.

The passage they cite uses yet! Please make sure the addition of 'yet' sticks! It's horrible what the wikipedia regulars do to spread misinformation on ME and related topics. Thanks for working on this CFS since 1988!
 

spindrift

Plays With Voodoo Dollies
Messages
286
The passage they cite uses yet! Please make sure the addition of 'yet' sticks! It's horrible what the wikipedia regulars do to spread misinformation on ME and related topics. Thanks for working on this CFS since 1988!

Justin,

Since 'CFS since 1998' put a new sentence in from the fulltext that had the 'yet' in it, no one
has changed it any more. That was the correct way to do it.

I had made the mistake of adding 'yet' to a sentence that did not have the word in it originally
so someone correctly took it back out.

Hope I am making sense as I am only running on three neurons today.
 

cfs since 1998

Senior Member
Messages
604
Yes, I am glad to see the change has stuck. Don't think that you made a "mistake" spindrift. I am very glad that you tried and that you posted about it here! Editing Wikipedia can be like a negotiating process sometimes. The person who reverted your edit apparently did not like the implication that there was an expectation that XMRV would be shown to cause disease in the future, so I tried to rewrite it to explain that it is not known whether it causes disease or not. I also noted in the edit summary that I was trying to make the sentence more congruent with the cited source--who could argue with that? So thank you to the person who posted that article.
 

spindrift

Plays With Voodoo Dollies
Messages
286
Yes, I am glad to see the change has stuck. Don't think that you made a "mistake" spindrift. I am very glad that you tried and that you posted about it here! Editing Wikipedia can be like a negotiating process sometimes. The person who reverted your edit apparently did not like the implication that there was an expectation that XMRV would be shown to cause disease in the future, so I tried to rewrite it to explain that it is not known whether it causes disease or not. I also noted in the edit summary that I was trying to make the sentence more congruent with the cited source--who could argue with that? So thank you to the person who posted that article.

I am totally wiped out at the moment, but did want to at least say THANKS for explaining that.