| Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has Genetic Roots |
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A study on chronic-fatigue syndrome reveals that the genes perhaps are an important contributory factor to the development of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA, uncovered the fact-based on the study of chronic-fatigue syndrome (CFS), that cause behind the CFS is genetic mutations that vitiate the central nervous system’s ability to adapt to stressful situations.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and also known with various other names such as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), is not simply one or a few episodes of daytime sleepiness. Rather, it is a syndrome of unknown and possibly multiple etiologies, affecting the central nervous system (CNS), immune and many other systems and organs.
CFS is a complex, debilitating illness consisting of a severe, persistent lack of energy, generalized muscle or joint aches and difficulty concentrating. The profound fatigue of CFS does not improve after a good night’s sleep and worsens with physical or mental exertion. It causes exhaustion and problems with sleep and memory.
The study included 227 chronic fatigue syndrome participants who each checked into a hospital for two days to undergo a complete set of mental, physical and sleep tests. Their blood and urine samples were also tested including an assessment of the activity of 20,000 genes.
And then the researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), handed four teams of scientists a massive set of information about the symptoms and biology of CFS patients, and challenged them to pull out anything that might explain the disease.
After examining and sorting those data carefully by four research teams, using computer algorithms for featuring patients’ biology- such as genetic sequences that matched their symptoms. CDC called it the CFS Computational Challenge.
The study showed that patients suffering with such disease tend to have a characteristic set of changes in 12 genes that help the body respond to stress. They showed that a specific combination of gene sequences could forecast whether a patient had CFS with over 75% accuracy.
The teams’ researchers now published their results in 14 papers in the journal Pharmacogenomics producing what they say is the most comprehensive picture of the disease’s roots so far. They reported that few changes in many of the genes in the brain prevent the nervous system from rebounding from everyday stress and less frequent, stronger insults, finally triggering a cascade of molecular responses that leave the patient severely enfeebled.
Dr. Julie Gerberding - CDC Director described the study as the first credible evidence for a biological basis. Researchers included that the discoveries will provide immediate help in diagnosing the disorder, which often baffle physicians because of the broad spectrum of symptoms and the absence of defining biochemical markers.
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