Models Suggesting Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is “Amenable to Intervention” Provide Hope: Dr. Broderick

[Sasha]

Fascinating post on Cort's blog today:

http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/201...ome-amenable-intervention-dr-broderick-talks/

 

[Snow Leopard]

I generally look forward to Broderick's published papers as they are generally both interesting and original, but all of the models so far have left me wanting, with respect to whether they actually represent reality - some of the assumptions and implications are unlikely suggesting to me that the model does not reflect the disease. They recently produced a paper that modelled some loops that was hypothesised to lead to onset of CFS and the most interesting part about it too me anyway, was that it predicted the kinetics - two cases, both relapse/remitting and a sort of dormant period before a sharp onset. But change the name of the variables to another system and you will have the same sort of behaviour and kinetics - so it doesn't really prove that the model matches reality, simply that the model could represent a real system.

 

[Sushi]

Tantalizing quotes from the article.

Broderick is particularly fascinated by what role the vagus nerve, the object of much interest in ME/CFS, will play in the model. Broderick called the vagus nerve’s role ‘fascinating’. He likened the vagus nerve to the immune system picking up the phone, calling the brain, and saying, “Boss, we’ve got somebody on board – start the emergency protocol”

And...

It turned out that Katz had isolated NK cells and then tested them, while the Klimas team always tests them in whole blood. The light bulb went on. Something in the blood was axing the NK cells. Put the NK cells off by themselves and ask them to kill pathogens and they do just fine – but put them in the blood mixed with all the immune factors found there and they poop out.

 

[WillowJ]

Calling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome the “New York City’ of chronic illness (if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere) Broderick believes demonstrating his approach works here will lead to its being adopted in other disorders. ME/CFS is a hard nut to crack, he said, and if you can crack it in a relatively short period of time with a relatively small budget – as he believes he’s on the way to doing (he really does) – that will lead to opportunities for treatment of other disorders, particularly neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative ones

I've always believed this. If we can solve this illness, it will pave the way to solve others, probably others previously considered unsolveable.