An Etiological Model for ME/CFS

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21892413

PubMed

US National Library of Medicine

National Institutes of Health

Neurosci Med. 2011 Mar 1;2(1):14-27.

An Etiological Model for Myalgic

Encephalomyelitis/Chronic

Fatigue Syndrome.

LA, Sorenson M, Porter N,

Belkairous N.

De University, Center for Community Research.

Fullerton Ave., Chicago, USA.

Abstract

Kindling might represent a heuristic model for

understanding the etiology of Myalgic

Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

(ME/CFS).

Kindling occurs when an organism is exposed

repeatedly to an initially sub-threshold stimulus

resulting in hypersensitivity and spontaneous

seizure-like activity.

Among patients with ME/CFS, chronically repeated

low-intensity stimulation due to an infectious

illness might cause kindling of the

limbic-hypothalamic- pituitary axis.

Kindling might also occur by high-intensity

stimulation (e.g., brain trauma) of the

limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis.

Once this system is charged or kindled, it can

sustain a high level of arousal with little or no

external stimulus and eventually this could lead to

hypocortisolism.

Seizure activity may spread to adjacent structures

of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis in the

brain, which might be responsible for the varied

symptoms that occur among patients with

ME/CFS.

In addition, kindling may also be responsible for

high levels of oxidative stress, which has been

found in patients with ME/CFS.