#OMFScienceWednesdays-Olav Mella talks autoimmunity and metabolism in ME/CFS

[Gingergrrl]

Even in their very first paper, they didn't say CFS is an autoimmune disease, but said it might be "a variant of an autoimmune disease." (for me that's a difference, but maybe for physicians/scientists, it's the same - I don't know)

It sounds like a difference to me too, but then again, what do I know?

In one lecture which I linked to elsewhere, Dr Fluge was also sceptical of Dr Naviaux's hypothesis that CFS is a dysfunctional metabolic state akin to a state known as dauer in nematods.

I never really resonated with the whole Dauer state hypothesis but maybe b/c it is just not how my own illness presents. I do not lack energy but I am limited in what I can do standing/walking to the point that I still use wheelchair when I go out. I go out daily, but with the wheelchair, I really have no limits now. And once I reach my destination, I often do not need the wheelchair which is a vast difference to pre-treatment when I needed it 24/7 inside of my apt. I also have a vast improvement in muscle strength and breathing (but it never felt like a lack of energy to me).

He said he thinks it's immunological, maybe caused by an antibody (I checked, he explicitly said "antibody" and not "autoantibody").

My own illness is autoimmune/immunological for sure and it started off viral and flipped into autoimmunity. I was very high IgM+ for EBV for 3-4 yrs post-Mono which I had in 2012. What antibody was he referring to? Antibody tests are no longer considered accurate for me after 1.5 yrs of IVIG (vs. PCR tests are still accurate).

 

[Gingergrrl]

My understanding is that this a "new" panel provided by Quest.

I would love to have this panel done some day but at the moment I cannot do any blood work until my insurance is re-instated (unless it was an emergency of course).

 

[Wonkmonk]

What antibody was he referring to?

He didn't specify. He just said "maybe an antibody", if I remember correctly.