4 ms·

This is promising data but it’s very early. The authors are not really sure what the test is measuring on a cellular level, though they speculate a lot in the d

This is promising data but it’s very early. The authors are not really sure what the test is measuring on a cellular level, though they speculate a lot in the discussion, and we can’t yet truly infer a causal link between what’s causing the test result and disease status. It’s is going to take a lot more validation before we get to the stage where this is clinically useful. For instance, the control group were healthy, what if instead you compared test results in CFS to another disease condition that can mimic CFS, would it still work as well? In the extreme case, the test could just be a generic flag that someone is non-specifically unwell, we just can’t tell from this data alone.

vaelin 7y ago
It could also be measuring the result of extreme inactivity. I am bedridden, and I have no doubt that lying in bed for years has had a profound effect on my physiology independently of my ME/CFS. The acid test will be when we compare ME/CFS patients to matched MS patients. However, as Ron Davis has stated, it might also be the case that MS patients have ME/CFS, as ME/CFS is highly heterogenous and may be arrived at from multiple directions. There are lots of details that need to be ironed out. Nevertheless, this is exciting news.