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Ron Davis featured in "nature" journal of science article

Tally

Senior Member
Messages
367
While I completely agree with criticism of Reddit, I don't think it should be easily dismissed just because we don't like the general profile or attitude of its users. It has a huge reach and the particular subreddit in question is the only social media spot that I am aware of where anyone and everyone can keep up with scientific research.

Rather than insult them and dismiss them, we should use it as another outlet for spreading information about ME/CFS. Beggars can't be choosers, we need any platform we can get.

Thousands more people who are not personally involved with ME/CFS have now heard of Dr. Davis and other ME/CFS researchers.
 

JayS

Senior Member
Messages
195
I disagree with the dismissal of the criticisms: when someone tries to take down information, particularly research, that we consider to be valid and important, I find it valuable to see how this is approached. What they're thinking, perhaps what their agenda is, and/or are there any legitimate weak spots that can be addressed. Whether or not this person was sincere about his 'mentor,' it is interesting that he seemed to have a laundry list of faults in a fairly short period of time. I think sometimes we tend to think that research that favors our point of view is impervious to criticism, if not infallible, and I think it's important to have as much of an understanding of the opposing points of view that have plagued us for so long, as possible.

A lot of oppositional criticism seems to often be based on far pettier stuff than what this person posted (to the point where it sometimes seems like ideological dogma). Yes, he made a bad mistake in conflating more than one study, but he was also a lot more civil than others who come off as hostile, so who knows.
 

Murph

:)
Messages
1,799
I find reddit utterly uninteresting. I don't think I ever read anything of value there.
The reddit cfs page is very nice place with an excellent moderator. It is far less intimidating than here (with all the biochemistry chat that goes on!) and a good intro point for people who'd like to share things about the disease at a simpler level, get some basic tips, etc.

It was where I stopped in first and eventually, gradually found myself spending more time here as I took more of an interest in the science.
 

Murph

:)
Messages
1,799
Criticising Reddit is a little like criticising 'the internet'. It is organised into subreddits with very different moderation policies and different cultures. Some are completely vile (especially the politics ones) but many are exceedingly positive. r/AskHistorians is the stand out example, but I also like r/ItookaPicture and r/etymology and dozens more.

As discussed above (in a rather different context) it's easy (and often rather satisfying!) to dismiss as totally worthless things you're only very slightly familiar with!!
 

Solstice

Senior Member
Messages
641
In relation to the Lipkin research into the gut microbiome. There's a drug called filgotinib in the pipeline for the near future which could also have an impact on M.E. sufferers, it's an anti-inflammatory and is tested amongst others on crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It could perhaps stop LPS throughout the body?

http://www.gilead.com/research/pipeline

Under inflammation/respiratory there.
 
Messages
2,391
Location
UK
Interesting to see that Amy Maxmen's article about Ron Davis' work was posted yesterday, 29 Mar 2017, on this BPS news site.

http://www.biopsychology.com/news/

upload_2017-3-30_22-27-44.png

Biological underpinnings of chronic fatigue syndrome begin to emerge
Amy Maxmen Before his 33-year-old son became bedridden with chronic fatigue syndrome, biochemist Ronald Davis created technologies to analyse genes and proteins faster, better and more cheaply. Now he aims his inventions at a different target: the elusive inner workings of his son’s malady. In his office at the Stanford Genome Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, Davis holds a nanofabricated cube the size of a gaming die. It contains 2,500 electrodes that measure electrical resistance to evaluate the properties of human cells. When Davis exposed immune cells from six people with chronic fatigue syndrome to a stressor — a splash of common salt — the cube revealed that they couldn’t recover as well as cells from healthy people could. Now his team is fabricating 100 more devices to repeat the experiment, and testing a cheaper alternative — a paper-thin nanoparticle circuit that costs less than a penny to make on an inkjet printer. Davis’s findings, although preliminary, are helping to propel research on chronic fatigue syndrome, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), into the scientific mainstream. Physicians used to dismiss the disease as psychosomatic, but studies now suggest that it involves problems in the chemical reactions, or pathways, within cells. “We now have a great deal of evidence to support that this is not only real, but a complex set of disorders,” says Ian Lipkin, an epidemiologist at Columbia University in New York City. “We are gathering clues that will lead to controlled clinical trials.” © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited,

Keyword: Depression; Neuroimmunology
Link ID: 23420 - Posted: 03.29.2017
 

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Messages
2,391
Location
UK
Well, look at those keywords that they've used for it, the first one tells you all you need to know. :bang-head:
Yes, but for all doubters to see it has the following:-
Physicians used to dismiss the disease as psychosomatic, but studies now suggest that it involves problems in the chemical reactions, or pathways, within cells.
 
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Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
In relation to the Lipkin research into the gut microbiome. There's a drug called filgotinib in the pipeline for the near future which could also have an impact on M.E. sufferers, it's an anti-inflammatory and is tested amongst others on crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It could perhaps stop LPS throughout the body?

http://www.gilead.com/research/pipeline

Under inflammation/respiratory there.
LPS and gram positive bacteria, too!
 

neweimear

Senior Member
Messages
215
In relation to the Lipkin research into the gut microbiome. There's a drug called filgotinib in the pipeline for the near future which could also have an impact on M.E. sufferers, it's an anti-inflammatory and is tested amongst others on crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It could perhaps stop LPS throughout the body?

http://www.gilead.com/research/pipeline

Under inflammation/respiratory there.
I contacted de Meirlier and there are no plans for a trial of that drug. So who is going to trial it....I think this is another pipe dream drug for us!