Article today by Cort on the collaborative work being done between Dr Lipkin and the Simmaron Research Foundation (I hadn't realised that was going on).
Can't resist that one - I'll be donating to this today.
Simmaron Research Foundation said:Three to Five Years – An ME/CFS Timeline
How does all this relate to ME/CFS? Likpin cited the findings of their work to date.
Lipkin emphasized, though, that ME/CFS is not a one-size fits all disease. For instance, it’s possible that fungi may be a problem for some patients. That’s an intriguing idea given the recent fungi funding in Alzheimer’s disease published in Nature.
- The suspected pathogens don’t appear to be the problem (the CII is reportedly looking further at herpesviruses.)
- Evidence suggests altered microbiomes (gut flora) are present
- Striking differences in immune expression between shorter and longer duration patients suggest profound immune changes have occurred
- Preliminary evidence suggests that levels “X” and “Y” metabolites and, at least, one immune protein are significantly altered in ME/CFS. (Lipkin embargoed this information pending publication of the paper. One of them is a shocker.)
Lipkin’s timeline for solving ME/CFS given enough resources – a mere three to five years.
Then Lipkin made his bold declaration “We’re going to solve this in three to five years”. It came with a significant proviso “provided the resources are made available” but indicated that he believes ME/CFS is a mystery that can be cracked fairly quickly. That sounds really fast, but Lipkin’s time-frame is not that far off from Ronald Davis’s 5-10 year time-frame (provided he gets the resources as well.) (or Dr. Montoya’s).
These eminent researchers believe that given the technology present today we could understand ME/CFS fairly quickly – if enough resources were brought to bear. Lipkin pointed to a slate of researchers in his lab working on ME/CFS to signify the major shift he’s seen happen in just the last couple of years. He said “I couldn’t have gotten them five years ago”.
He highlighted two places the patient community can make an impact:
[...]
- Funding Pilot Studies – The community can fund pilot studies which can be turned into big grants
- Advocacy – Lipkin is a savvy researcher. He knows how the NIH works, and once again he emphasized the need for the ME/CFS community to push harder legislatively – to talk to their representatives in the House of Representatives, in particular – and get them to push the NIH for more funding.
Triple Your Support!
Between now and Dec 31 triple your support for Ian Lipkin’s work with the Simmaron Research Foundation (SRF). A generous donor is offering to match $2 for every $1 donated before Dec 31. The funds will support the SRF’s collaborations with Drs. Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig at Columbia University.
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/SimmaronResearch
Can't resist that one - I'll be donating to this today.
