CFS - related proteome in human cerebrospinal fluid
This sounds interesting:
Chronic fatigue syndrome may overlap with Persian Gulf War syndrome and fibromyalgia; patients share a set of cerebrospinal fluid proteins identified by mass spectrometry which are missing from healthy controls, preliminary evidence for a common neurological pathology.Full report (BMC) 1 Dec 2005 - [via Abide, with thanks]
posted by Ingrid J. Jones at Wednesday, December 07, 2005
1 Comments:
The important thing here is that they were NOT looking for a cure. They were looking for a diagnostic test. And it looks like they might have found the key.
This is a peer reviewed journal (almost 8 months between submission and publication) -- with repeatable results. Their methods have been described and can be investigated. In other words, this is as respectable as you can get in the scientific community.
A proteomic signature is the first step to a holy grail for us--a reliable diagnostic takes away the perception of ME/CFS being a wastebasket diagnosis. It takes away the fight over the name. It takes away the derision and "belief" of doctors that we fear.
It gives us *hope*. It gives us something to gather around.
It gives doctors something to diagnose with. Something for *them* to believe.
It gives researchers something to investigate. It gives them a place to start--if you're looking at the proteome, you can look at the genes that code for the proteins, parts of the body affected by the protein, and where the protein is produced.
It gives drug companies something to target. And it gives them a market.
It is the hugely important first step to eventually getting our lives back.
It gives us the respect and takes away our fear.
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