ME/CFS: Etiology

This page needs to be updated – take everything with a grain of salt.

As always, this page is work in progress and currently just a scratch pad – and not very up to date.

Etiology is asking the question: "What causes it?". Well, it hasn't be established what causes ME/CFS, but there are some theories.

I must admit, I'm biased: As I write this the enterovirus-hypothesis is the most plausible for me.

"Empirical" associations
These are hypothesis about associations which have some empirical grounds (e.g. clinical and epidemiologic observations, response to drugs, lab tests, etc.).

Enterovirus
Ramsay, Mowbray, Chia

XMRV (an gamma-retrovirus)
WPI, Mikovits
ME/CFS is definitley not caused by XMRV (nor "HGRV"), neither is any other disease caused by these retroviruses

Human herpes viruses (HHV)
Montoya

Chlamydia
Stratton (Vanderbilt), Wheldon

Toxin
Shoemaker

Hypothesis without (current) proponents
There was (or is) some research or some speculation about association, but nobody is pushing these theories at the moment.

Retrovirus (other than XMRV)
Elaine DeFreitas
Findings were probably due to lab contamination, the last tests DeFreitas were no better than throwing darts, as she admitted.

Unknown virus (other than one of the above)
It could be. Let's see if Ian Lipkin finds something.

Genetic causes
It is unlikely that a genetic cause affects so many people so profoundly – but genetic differences might play a role with regards to an pathogen.

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERV)
Should be same as genetic causes.

Suspicious

Psychobabbel
Strauss, Wessley, Sharpe

Elektrosmog
I don't think elektrosmog is causative, but I know that the people complaining about elektrosmog have real health problems (as in not psychosomatic or any such bullshit).

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