In the News

19 April, 2024

Sunderland Woman Caught Lyme Disease After Dog Lay On Hedgehog Nest In Garden

Kay Gibb caught Lyme Disease in summer 2021 and her symptoms have never gone away.

18 April, 2024

AIM ImmunoTech Announces Charles Lapp, MD, As A Consulting Medical Officer For Its ME/CFS And Long COVID Programs

OCALA, Fla., April 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE American: AIM) (“AIM”) today announced that Charles Lapp, MD, is joining the company to help lead its efforts to develop Ampligen (rintatolimod) as a potential treatment for Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID.

18 April, 2024

Development Of A Mouse Model For Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex clinical condition characterized by overwhelming fatigue and associated symptoms like pain lasting greater than 6 months. ME/CFS is often initiated after an illness, exacerbated by stress, and associated with immune system changes. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically relevant mouse model of ME/CFS. We hypothesized that pairing stress with an illness-like immune stimulation would generate long-term fatigue and pain, and thus tested effects of combining one-day of acute restraint stress with the immune activator lipopolysaccharide (LPS, i.p.). Fatigue was assessed using voluntary wheel running (RW) and open field testing. For pain, we assessed mechanical paw sensitivity and muscle withdrawal thresholds. Immune cell phenotype was assessed using spectral flow cytometry. C57BL6 mice were divided into 4 groups: (1) stress+LPS, (2) stress+saline, (3) stress+saline+1-day no-RW, (4) no intervention. The stress+LPS group showed a short duration decrease in RW (p<0.001), open field activity (p<0.001), and muscle withdrawal threshold (p=0.005). Surprisingly, the stress and saline group ran significantly less over the 12-day period showing a long-lasting decrease in RW when compared to the other three groups (p=0.002) without changes in open field or pain behaviors long-term (day 10). The stress+LPS group showed alterations in immune phenotypes: increased CD4+ T-cells (p<0.001), decreased CD8+ T-cells (p=0.007), and decreased CD25+ T-cells (p=0.02) compared to no intervention group. Thus, stress with a mild insult produces a long-term reduction in activity that is not associated with alterations in immune cell phenotype. Funded by the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research: PODS I and II.

18 April, 2024

Why The Psychosomatic View On Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Inconsistent With Current Evidence And Harmful To Patients

Since 1969, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) has been classified as a neurological disease in the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization. Although numerous studies over time have uncovered organic abnormalities in patients with ME/CFS, and the majority of researchers to date classify the disease as organic, many physicians still believe that ME/CFS is a psychosomatic illness. In this article, we show how detrimental this belief is to the care and well-being of affected patients and, as a consequence, how important the education of physicians and the public is to stop misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and stigmatization on the grounds of incorrect psychosomatic attributions about the etiology and clinical course of ME/CFS.

17 April, 2024

Beautician To Open New Salon After Building Business 'From The Ground Up'

A UK beautician is launching a new salon after building her business back "from the ground up". Hannah Day, 31, will be celebrating the opening of HD Beauty & Aesthetics in Lower Olland Street in Bungay on Monday with drinks and a tour. Ms Day, who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, said the salon comes as a result of many years of hard work and overcoming personal difficulties.

17 April, 2024

How The Steady Click Of Knitting Needles And Crochet Hooks Is Bringing Comfort, Mindfulness And Healing

The Australia's ABC News reports on two women – one in her 20s, one in her late 60s — who have, in the midst of pain and uncertainty, found that crochet gives them a stillness, solace and peace.

17 April, 2024

A New Birding Club Wants To Help COVID Long-Haulers Safely Enjoy Nature Together

Ed Yong, an award-winning science journalist who widely covered the pandemic, recently launched The Spoonbill Club to provide community—and an accessible hobby—for folks with long COVID.

16 April, 2024

12-Year-Old Describes 4-Year Battle With Long COVID

Theo Huot de Saint-Albin was a 9-year-old elementary school student when he first contracted COVID-19 in July 2020, near the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Four years later, as much of the world has moved on from the pandemic and resumed normal life, Theo, now nearly a teenager, is still battling the effects of long COVID. "What happened directly after COVID-19 was worse than my actual COVID-19," Theo, now in seventh grade, told "Good Morning America." For me, I have chronic migraines ... it doesn't mean the migraine is terrible every day. It's very unpredictable. It goes in waves. But it's always there. It never leaves."

16 April, 2024

Study Finds Significant Overlap In Neurochemicals From Long COVID And ME/CFS Patients

The National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED) at Griffith University continues to build upon its novel discoveries in long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Researchers at NCNED directly compared brain neurochemical levels in long COVID and ME/CFS patients with healthy controls using MRI. The study’s first author Dr Kiran Thapaliya said “People with long COVID and ME/CFS have significantly elevated neurochemical levels, compared with healthy controls potentially causing multiple symptoms in both conditions."

16 April, 2024

Why My Chronic Pain Made Me Immune To Body Image Issues

Kate Brayden writes about her experiences with chronic pain, and how not having the energy to criticise her body has been an unexpected - albeit complicated - upside to an otherwise incredibly difficult condition.