Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Could Be Triggered by An Overactive Immune System

An overactive response from the immune system might have something to do with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, according to a study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. Patients with Hepatitis C infections were treated with injections of interferon alpha, a naturally-occurring protein known for provoking an immune response. This treatment is normally associated with feelings of fatigue, but a third (18) of the 55 people observed in this study had fatigue levels higher than normal six months later, which is termed “persistent fatigue,” a precursor to chronic fatigue syndrome. According to lead researcher Dr. Alice Russell from King’s College London,

For the first time, we have shown that people who are prone to develop a CFS-like illness have an overactive immune system, both before and during a challenge to the immune system. Our findings suggest that people who have an exaggerated immune response to a trigger may be more at risk of developing CFS.”

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Chronic Fatigue and the Immune System

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is characterized by tiredness that isn’t improved with rest and persists for more than six months. Scientists and doctors haven’t been able to pinpoint the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. It all begins with the microbiome. That also pertains to the immune system. Those who experienced an immune response were more likely to exhibit the precursors of chronic fatigue syndrome. The microbiome controls the immune system. There is a connection between our microbiome and CFS. Researchers at Cornell University discovered a link between inflammation, a lack of gut microbe diversity, and CFS. Another study from Columbia University detected elevated levels of certain bacterias in chronic fatigue sufferers. There is definitely a link between an unbalanced microbiome and CFS. That could also provide an explanation for the connections being made between the immune system and the condition. It’s all connected.

CFS and Women

We may not know what causes chronic fatigue, but we do know who it affects. Women are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop CFS than men. That’s true of most autoimmune disorders, and this study brings up a potential reason for that. Estrogen increases immune system activity while testosterone does the opposite. In fact, testosterone turns on a specific gene that decreases the immune system’s response. That supports the new research here. If an immune response is a factor in developing chronic fatigue syndrome, it would make sense that those who experience more immune responses are more likely to develop CFS.

Related:How to Detoxify and Heal the Lymphatic System

Dig A Little Deeper

The immune response itself is not the cause of CFS. Only a third of those provoked in this study reported persistent fatigue. There’s also the fact that an immune response can be a good thing. There are microbes we want the immune system to respond to, keeping us from getting sick. But an immune system that’s constantly on alert creates stress on multiple body systems. Eventually, the immune system will falter.

For more on the immune system, check out: Make Your Immune System Bulletproof with These Natural Remedies

Editor’s Note:

I don’t really buy into the concept of an “overactive immune system.” When someone has this condition, in almost every case, the gut is unwell and is leaking undigested proteins, chemicals, and pathogens into the bloodstream. I recommend How To Heal Your Gut for anyone dealing with an autoimmune condition.

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Plague– The Chronic Fatigue, Autism, Retrovirus and Vaccine Connection (a Book Review)

When we learn about scientists and their discoveries, we know nothing about them as people. We have no idea how they treat their peers, whether they grandstand, undercut their competition, throw their weight around, or honor the ethics of their profession.

In her book Plague, One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Viruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Autism, and Other Diseases, (co-written by Kent Heckenlively, JD), Judy Mikovits PhD, pulls back the curtain and reveals the underbelly of the scientific community and how it closes ranks to protect corporate interests. When Mikovits’ made a discovery that threatened the system and the financial fabric that holds it together, her stellar career exploded. Efforts to discredit her included her being fired, arrested, and publically discredited.

At the time this fiasco came to pass, Judy Mikovits was a molecular biologist and biochemist with more than 30 years experience. She had authored approximately 50 publications. Her original professional focus was HIV and AIDS, but she had learned that there were many similarities between AIDS and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS).

ME is a horrific disease, one that has been systematically minimalized by the healthcare system in the United States. It was named chronic fatigue syndrome by the CDC, though the name sounds much less serious than myalgic encephalomyelitis, the term used in Britain and elsewhere throughout much of the world. The medical community further diminished its seriousness by nicknaming it the yuppie flu. Doctors routinely dismissed patients’ suffering, labeling it as malingering or hypochondria, because they were told the disease was not real. But to many, ME is a devastating, life-altering disease.

As stated in Plague, “Patients suffer from a devastating cascade of symptoms rendering them ghosts of the people they once were; more than half become completely disabled, a quarter permanently bed-bound. Recovery is rare. Morbidity studies have demonstrated that ME patients are as ill as end-stage AIDS sufferers, advanced cancer patients, and people dying from congestive heart failure.”

The inconvenient truth Mikovits discovered as she delved into a thorough study of ME and its patients was “pervasive evidence” that a gammaretrovirus, XMRV, was present in 70% of ME patients and 4% of healthy controls. This retrovirus, a murine leukemia virus found in mice, had somehow jumped species. Mikovits presented evidence that this retrovirus was associated with ME, specific cancers, and autism. Her data indication that 10 million Americans were infected with this latent virus (though asymptomatic) and that the vehicle that infected so much of the population was vaccines. Once she made the association between vaccines and autism, her career was over.

Plague, One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Viruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Autism, and Other Diseases is a highly informative read. It sounds horrible to say that the book is entertaining considering the subject matter, perhaps gripping and intriguing are better terms. This look into the personalities and politics of the scientific medical  community is in and of itself an eye-opening, worthy read. The information on the handling of chronic fatigue syndrome and the similar approach to the autism epidemic is vital information. The link with vaccines is world changing. We highly recommend the book.

Plague, One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Viruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Autism, and Other Diseases can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound.

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