oh, and the comment from someone, sorry, can't remember who, about how complex it is involving so many systems so that we all have slightly different manifestations and biological test abnormalities is very true. I think that is why I saw CFS is the immune system dysfunction, not an XMRV infection. My theory is that the virus might actually have gone back into dormant stage, but the immune system damage (and resulting neurological and endocrine damage) is the illness. Although XMRV is the cause (according to current theory) it is not the result.
This reminds me of Gina who appeared on Dr. Oz. She is XMRV positive. Yet I was shocked to hear her say she has high blood pressure. I have low blood pressure. And most people with CFS, according to what I read, have low or suddenly dropping blood pressure.
Again, some of us get it gradually and some suddenly. Mikovitz said this clinical difference had no bearing on whether the person is XMRV positive.
I never had swollen lymph nodes. (at least in the neck.) I lost weight, yet most patients say they gain weight.
I didn't have sore throat until three and a half years into the illness. And it was always mild.
I had vertigo, but it was slight, only came when I took a warm bath. Yet Laura Hillenbrand's vertigo was so bad she had to stay immobile in her bed.
I think this, again, reflects that it is a retrovirus that can affect different cells. I can't remember who, but someone said it can infect neurological cells. We know it can be in prostate tumor cells. And we know it is in some immune system cells. Maybe the different symptoms are based on what system is more XMRV infected.... or maybe it depends on which system is weaker in that person (genetic predisposition) .... or maybe it depends on how the DNA is affected by XMRV, since the virus affects other genes in the DNA- maybe that affect is different based on the particulars of how and where the virus infects those particular cells..... or maybe it just depends on what latent virus the person has when the XMRV decimates the immune system- so that the symptoms are based on whether your reactivated virus is EB, an enterovirus, cytomegalavirus, HHV-6 or Lyme.
I feel like we on an episode of "House." We are all postulating medical theories on a case presented to us to not only diagnose, but figure out how the disease process works in this case.
If I were a researcher, I would find this very exciting. The complexity makes it like a mystery novel. With so many players as possible culprits, the challenge is greater, therefore more interesting. If there were only three characters in the mystery, it would be very easy, and therefore not as challenging and not as interesting to find out who did it. But in the case of CFS, with so many different systems and variables, the potential for discovery is great.
Tina