by Bjorn Grinde
August 11, 2008
[Note: Go to the Co-Cure Listserv archive to read the full text of this article]
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling disease of unknown etiology. A variety of factors have been suggested as possible causes.
- Although the symptoms and clinical findings are heterogeneous,
- The syndrome is sufficiently distinct, at least in relation to the more obvious cases, that a common explanation seems likely.
In this paper, it is proposed that the disease is caused by a ubiquitous, but normally benign virus, for example, one of the circoviruses.
- Circoviruses are chronically present in a majority of people, but are rarely tested for diagnostically.
- Normally these viruses do not penetrate the blood-brain barrier,
- But exceptions have been reported,
- And related viruses cause disease in the central nervous system of animals.
The flu-like illness that often precedes the onset of CFS may either:
- Suppress immune function, causing an increased viremia,
- And/or lower the blood-brain barrier.
In both cases the result may be that a virus already present in the blood enters the brain.
It is well known that zoonotic viruses typically are more malignant than viruses with a long history of host-virus evolution. [Zoonotic viruses are those that are transmitted between animals and humans.] Similarly, a virus reaching an unfamiliar organ may cause particular problems.
Source: Medical Hypotheses, August 2008. 71(2)270-274 Grinde B. National Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. [E-mail: bjgr@fhi.no]
|
