Too many times, people who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome are told that it is not a real disease. But researchers are finding evidence that it is a real condition. The latest finding is that suffers have a distinct pattern of immune system proteins called cytokines in their spinal fluid. This pattern of cytokines may be causing the mental sluggishness called “brain fog” that can occur with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Researchers tested samples of spinal fluid from 32 people with chronic fatigue syndrome, 40 people with multiple sclerosis, and 19 healthy people. The fluid was tested for levels of 51 different cytokines. There were differences found in the spinal fluid found in each of the groups, with what the researchers called “a markedly disturbed” immune signature in the spinal fluid of the people with chronic fatigue syndrome.
People with chronic fatigue syndrome have lower levels of certain cytokines in their spinal fluid, but elevated levels of one cytokine called eotaxin that is also elevated in people with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the nerves. The researchers chose to test spinal fluid from people with multiple sclerosis because it has similarities with chronic fatigue syndrome, since it can cause fatigue and “brain fog.”
Chronic fatigue syndrome is also called myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Although continuing and debilitating fatigue is one of the hallmarks of the condition, other prominent symptoms include difficulties with thinking, such as confusion and inability to concentrate, as well as issues with short-term memory. It affects as many as 2.5 million people in the United States.
Finding a pattern of cytokines in spinal fluid of people with chronic fatigue syndrome may help create an objective test for it. People with chronic fatigue syndrome are often not diagnosed correctly for many years after their symptoms occur.
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