first, I think viruses and vaccines, Mikovitz said on T.V. program, can trigger XMRV replication. So add that to the list.
Secondly, I find it interesting that some CFS people will show low cortisol and low progesterone. And they are very sick at the time, even though their levels of these XMRV triggers are low, such that they were prescribed replacement.
Thirdly, someone in another thread said maybe the body reduces the cortisol in defense, since the body figures out that it causes the damaging virus to grow. Now since progesterone also activates virus replication, then a theory could be made the reason we are lower in progesterone is because the body is reducing the level so as to keep the virus from replicating. I don't agree with this theory. But these points do fit.
Fourthly, I find it interesting that the two hormones that activate XMRV replication are hormones that vary greatly in a healthy person? We women know that progesterone can go up or down based on time of the month, and many other factors. Cortisol is not normally tested through blood because it can vary so greatly in healthy people that a blood test at any given time would not be able to find an abnormality. And, of course, stress can raise cortisol levels. I find it curious these two highly variable hormones are associated with XMRV.
Fifthly, maybe, as I said before on another thread, we need cortisol and progesterone replacement because even though high levels activate the virus, the immune system has been damaged, causing a cascading series of multiple system abnormalities, that we then can't produce these hormones normally. In that case, it is not a survival technique of the body, but it is a continuous loop that we can't recover from. We get cortisol higher, virus replicates, damages immune system and HPA axis, and cortisol goes down. Body starts to recover, and then progesterone starts the virus again, immune system damaged, HPA damaged and cortisol is low. And it is an unending circle.
Tina