Sue J Blog: NJ CFS Conference - Update on XMRV by Dr. Mikovits

[urbantravels]

Stone wins the daily double! In the polio epidemic, 20% of those infected got sick with a fever, but only 1% of the infected got the virus in their nervous systems, leading to paralysis. As far as anyone knows, it was simply a random event that occasionally the virus got into the nervous system in some unfortunate individuals. 80% of those infected walked around without ever knowing it, and were able to transmit the virus to other people.

I believe Cort is correct - any new positive studies in the publication pipeline are going to be subjected to the Extra Special Secret Squirrel Double Probation before finally being published. All very understandable, though one wishes negative studies were being given the same treatment.

 

[Sasha]

I believe Cort is correct - any new positive studies in the publication pipeline are going to be subjected to the Extra Special Secret Squirrel Double Probation before finally being published. All very understandable, though one wishes negative studies were being given the same treatment.

Secret squirrels? There are secret squirrels?

 

[Cort]

What if the journals refuse to accept any of the forthcoming research papers linking this retrovirus to M.E.? Could this conceivably happen to the Lo/Alter study and other - not just the WPI 'ones in the drawer'?

It's just the WPI - they have something of a cloud over their head and they probably can't do anything themselves to remove it. It's really out of their hands - it's up to independent investigators using their own samples, own reagants, etc. - complete physical separation! I wonder if Ruscetti could even be any help since it was part of the original study (never mind that Sandra Ruscetti has been working with MLV's for years...but still - its physically connected in some way).

Luckily we have some really well made studies coming up.

 

[Sasha]

Has everybody noticed that tomorrow (Saturday) is the first birthday of the Science XMRV/CFS paper?

I think the ME/CFS world is unrecognisable - in the best possible way - a year on.

 

[urbantravels]

Secret Squirrel

 

[Sasha]

Argh... they're wearing clothes and everything!

 

[Stone]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXZNkxJFiQ0&feature=related <------link to Secret Squirrel cartoon on YouTube.

 

[Sasha]

And Morrocco Mole?! What the...!

 

[Hope123]

I would think WPI and most ME/CFS researchers are already aware of it but the IACFS/ME publishes a quarterly bulletin that is freely accessible online and has published a lot of research on ME/CFS. So there is at least one venue for publication but it might not be as prestigious as other journals and it is not indexed in Pubmed.

In the past, the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was started solely for the difficulty of getting published but was discontinued a few years ago. That Journal has some great articles on CFS but is not easy to find full-text and its articles are not Pubmed indexed.

 

[Cort]

I would think WPI and most ME/CFS researchers are already aware of it but the IACFS/ME publishes a quarterly bulletin that is freely accessible online and has published a lot of research on ME/CFS. So there is at least one venue for publication but it might not be as prestigious as other journals and it is not indexed in Pubmed.

In the past, the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was started solely for the difficulty of getting published but was discontinued a few years ago. That Journal has some great articles on CFS but is not easy to find full-text and its articles are not Pubmed indexed.

That is certainly one way. I wonder if the WPI would rather just sit it out until their studies are validated and get in some more read Journals. I kind of hope it doesn't come to publishing it there altho it is an option.

 

[eric_s]

It's very good for us and that Hansen is in there too. Lo and Alter are working on sequencing what they found and isolating the bugs and identifying and other things. Once they do all that it will make a big difference.

And i like that fact that Lo and Alter seem to be cooperating at least to some degree with the Ruscettis. It was reported that the Ruscettis have isolated the virus from Lo/Alter's samples.

 

[jenbooks]

Why do some people get sick from EBV while others remain healthy? After all it's in present in the blood of 50%+ of all people. Why do some get sick from the influenza virus and others can still be working? Why do some people get cancer from smoking while others stay healthy till 90+?

No, EBV infection is almost universal. And though not everybody gets the flu nor dies from it, the flu manifests as the flu. You don't get the flu but instead of fever, aches, headaches and so on, get Parkinson's or autism. You get the flu.

It must be a co-factor, in the genetically vulnerable, working in synergy with another or other significant pathogens. IMO.

 

[Bob]

Something doesn't compute for me here. If XMRV were the cause of disease, why would it manifest so differently in different individuals (CFS, prostate cancer, autism). In addition, autism tracks with the astronomical rise in toxic vaccines, and in toxins generally. If XMRV causes disease, why do family members remain healthy? Much remains to be determined. Perhaps it's a necessary cofactor for some.

It must be a co-factor, in the genetically vulnerable, working in synergy with another or other significant pathogens. IMO.

We hardly know anything about XMRV yet, but it might turn out that the virus affects people in different ways due to the strain of virus (XMRV 1, XMRV 2 etc), the type of virus (PMRV/XMRV), a combination of MLV-related viruses (i.e. XMRV 1+ XMRV 2 + PMRV), the age at which somebody is infected (i.e. infant/adult), which tissues are infected (i.e. bone marrow, brain), genetic susceptibility, other environmental factors, a combination with other pathogens or toxins (i.e. XMRV + EBV + exposure to toxins) etc etc etc.

HIV patients can occasionally be asymptomatic and never get ill, and for the patients who do get ill there are many different types of infection that they have to deal with.