XMRV in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME) & Fibromyalgia

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Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and Fibromyalgia (FM) are debilitating illnesses which have no cure and can leave sufferers' lives in ruins. Even those best able to adapt and cope often suffer with well-meaning people who think the illnesses was somehow brought upon themselves, or that the illnesses doesn't really exist. This site was set up following a study, in October 2009, that suggested ME/CFS (and possibly Fibromyalgia) might be caused by a retrovirus called XMRV. XMRV study in Science The study was published in the journal Science and found the retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) in 67% of patients with ME/CFS. Only 3.7% of the healthy controls studied had this infection. Later, the researchers reported up to 95% of patients test positive for XMRV with antibody testing. Lack of understanding about the causes of ME / CFS Lack of understanding about the causes of ME / CFS and the lack of any effective treatments can often lead to patients trying, out of desperation, unproven and unscientific remedies. The discovery of the XMRV retrovirus led people to ask whether this virus is a possible cause of CFS. News of the discovery prompted much needed discussion and a focus on the plight of CFS patients; it gives their illness a long-overdue legitimacy. For many years CFS/ ME went unrecognised as a genuine medical condition. Many doctors say that it has a psychological as well as a physical basis, but few believed it is caused solely by a viral infection. The Whittemore Peterson Institute (the group behind the research) was founded by Annette Whittemore, whose daughter suffers from ME. This privately funded, not for profit, organisation has finally put ME/ CFS and Fibromyalgia on the media agenda. It may transpire that XMRV is behind a string of illnesses referred to variously as CFS, ME, Fibromyalgia, Atypical Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Mononucleosis. Scientists are already using the term XAND, for XMRV Associated Neuroimmune Disease. Attempts to replicate the findings of the WPI Since the study appeared, several groups have tried to replicate the findings of Dr. Judy Mikovits (Whittemore Peterson Institute). Two groups in Britain and one in the Netherlands have published studies showing no links to the virus, and three other groups, two in the US and one in Europe, have reported negative findings at conferences. Most recently a second research team has reported a link between CFS and the same class of virus, a category known as MLV-related viruses. In a paper published in August 2010 by PNAS, scientists found evidence of several MLV-related viruses in blood cells 86.5% of chronic-fatigue patients but only 6.8% of healthy ones. The researchers did not find XMRV. However, XMRV is itself is a MLV-related virus and the author of the PNAS study has stated that this latest research supports the initial study that discovered XMRV in CFS blood samples. The emerging research has caught the attention of the blood bank industry. Canada recently began banning people with chronic fatigue syndrome from donating blood over concerns about possible XMRV transmission. The American Association of Blood Banks also issued a similar recommendation in June 2010