In The News

Lots of interesting news of late: there is the Standford study showing inflammation and low blood flow in the brains of CFS/ME patients that hit the main stream press a few weeks ago and then there are these interesting tidbits:

1)  MIT has started a new department to study the human microbiome.  I've been wondering for quite a while now if the microbiome in CFS/ME patients has been altered by the illness.  I've heard anecdotal stories of patients being cured via fermented foods, traditional foods and/or juicing.  All of which will alter the microbiome significantly.  And of course, there is the work of Dr. Chia who believes that CFS/ME is a virus of the gut.  I would love to see some CFS/ME researchers take up MIT on its offer of money and resources for further study, maybe even Dr Chia himself.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/new-mit-center-microbiome-and-human-health-1106

2) In a completely different department, MIT has figured out how to store data in E. coli.  Makes sense since it can be used as a four bit storage device which increases storage capacity immensely over traditional two bit computers.  The funky thing is that they could be used in the microbiome research listed above.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/bacteria-storage-device-memory-1113

3) Since diving down the MTHFR (genes responsible for methylation) rabbit hole, I've developed an interest in SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms otherwise known as genetic abnormalities) for conditions other than MTHFR.  Low and behold a study was recently published on SNPs associated with CFS/ME.  I'm very annoyed that it is behind a paywall since I would love to read this report in its entirety.  However, here is the abstract and conclusions:
http://jcp.bmj.com/content/early/2014/09/19/jclinpath-2014-202597.abstract?papetoc

4)  And here is more detailed study of methylation problems in the CD4+ immune cells of CFS/ME patients.  I haven't read and absorbed all the info here as it is a very long report.  However, I believe it would tie in nicely to the study on SNPs listed above.
http://omicsonline.org/open-access/methylation-profile-of-cd-t-cells-in-chronic-fatigue-syndromemyalgic-encephalomyelitis-2155-9899.1000228.pdf

5) It would also be interesting to look at the genetic data from CFS/ME patients to check to see if they have anything in common with the HLA genes for chronic inflammation that is found in Lyme and mold illness.
http://www.drdaveou.com/blog/?p=406

6) And in the exciting field of epigenetics is this study on immune system changes that are intentionally induced by human direction.  This could potentially lead to treatments that could downregulate or upregulate the human immune system which would a boondoggle for CFS/ME patients.
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/41092/title/Epigenetics-of-Trained-Innate-Immunity/