From Cape Town to Hanoi: Let it Go. Let it Flow. The early morning squints at us through milky eyes, still only half awake. Our suitcases are stacked at the gate. Four cats lined up next to us like furry sentinels. Against all odds, the day has arrived. We are going to Vietnam. And I feel […]
The Devil in Travel: Navigating Post-exertional Malaise: Part 1 Read More »
It’s not Your Fault It is not your Fault (This is the first blog post written after Retha passed away. Her loss is indescribable, but we are so blessed that her legacy lives in and around us. Thus, we dedicate all our future blog posts to her memory. No easy task. Hers are not shoes
It is not your Fault Read More »
The title of this metabolomic study “Evidence for Peroxisomal Dysfunction and Dysregulation of the CDP-Choline Pathway in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” made it clear that something new was in the works. Peroxisomal dysfunction had hardly popped up at all in the mitochondrial and metabolomic studies done to date – and yet it was headlining the outcome of a big, meaty NIH-funded study.
The study with the strange title came out of Ian Lipkin’s Center for Solutions for ME/CFS and featured a metabolomic analysis of 888 metabolic analytes in 106 ME/CFS cases and 91 frequency-matched healthy controls.
metabolism
Metabolism involves reactions that break down compounds (catabolic) and reactions that build them up (anabolic).
Metabolomics studies assess the levels of metabolites. A metabolite is the end product of metabolism which refers to the sum total of chemical reactions that keep us alive. We break down molecules (catabolic) or build up (anabolic) compounds to keep the energy flowing, the organs operating correctly, the body repair processes working, etc. Since we know the metabolic pathways in detail, we can use altered levels of metabolites to determine where breakdowns are occurring. Since energy – either the use of it or creation of it – plays a key role in metabolism, metabolomic studies are particularly good at ferreting out problems that occur when energy production is lacking.
ME/CFS Metabolomic Study Points to a Potential Cause of Mitochondrial Dysfunction Read More »
The metabolomic studies done thus far have highlighted potential energy production problems in ME/CFS.
This big NIH-funded research center study certainly did that but it did something different as well: it was able to put together a coherent step-by-step story of how the energy problems occurred – and it did that focusing on a part of the cell nobody has paid much attention to.
ME/CFS Metabolomic Study Points to a Potential Cause of Mitochondrial Dysregulation Read More »
Move Over POTS – Hypocapnia May be a Bigger Deal in ME/CFS Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has always been thought to be the big deal regarding orthostatic intolerance (increased symptoms while standing or sitting) in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Something is definitely off in the respiratory systems of quite a few people with ME/CFS.
Move over POTS – Hypocapnia May be a Bigger Deal in ME/CFS Read More »
“Millions of people continue to suffer from exhaustion, cognitive problems and other long-lasting symptoms after a coronavirus infection. The exact causes of the illness, known as long Covid, are not known. But new research offers clues, describing the toll the illness takes on the body and why it can be so debilitating.” Josh Keller
How Long COVID and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Exhaust the Body Read More »
Exercise Challenge Reveals a “Remarkable Discordance” in the Brains of People with ME/CFS By Cort Johnson: “There’s nothing like an exercise test to bring out the best, or rather the worst in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and if one exercise test is good, two are surely better. In “Submaximal Exercise Provokes Increased Activation of the
