September 9th’s publication of research by a team at the University of Dundee offers further indications that the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - ME has a pathology that now needs some serious resources to be made available for larger scale research.

The study, published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found abnormalities in the white blood cells of children with ME/CFS, suggesting they had been fighting off infection.

Sussex ME/CFS Society chairman, Colin Barton says: “Coupled with recent research findings in the US that link ME to a number of viruses, this new study highlights yet again that substantially more research must be undertaken into the biological causes of ME/CFS.”

The research publication comes a week after the Department of Health decided to ban blood donation permanently from all prospective donors in the UK who report they have had ME from November 1st this year. The decision was made on the grounds of donor safety, as ME/CFS is a relapsing condition. It brings practice for ME/CFS into line with other relapsing conditions or neurological conditions of unknown origin.

On July 1, 2010, CDC researchers and colleagues from two institutions reported results of a study in which they found no evidence of infection with xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a serious disorder that affects 1 to 4 million U.S. adults. The CDC-led team used a combination of different molecular and serologic assays to test archived blood specimens from CFS patients and healthy controls. Results of blinded testing performed at CDC and two other laboratories were negative for XMRV. These findings are in sharp contrast to results from a recent U.S. study by Lombardi et al (Science 2009) that detected XMRV in about two-thirds of CFS patients and nearly 4% of healthy controls, but are consistent with three other recent studies in Europe that found no link between XMRV and CFS. The CDC-led team concluded that these data do not support an association between XMRV and CFS in their study population.

Their report is published in the open-access journal Retrovirology.

Recently elected MP for Hove & Portslade, Mike Weatherly has agreed to become a patron to the Sussex & Kent ME/CFS Society. Mike is a graduate in Business Studies of London South Bank University and a Chartered Management Accountant. He professes a keen interest in live music and fittingly was Finance Director of the Pete Waterman group of businesses.

Over fifty people had a pleasant afternoon at the Cornerstone Community Centre on June 25th listening to one of the UK’s top nutritionists, Dr Alan Stewart and GP Dr Susie Rockwell who gave interesting presentations on dietary recommendations, vitamin intake and homeopathy. The talks also covered the Lightning Process and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy along with other approaches that are helping people with ME/CFS. Representatives from the NHS Sussex CFS/ME Service were present as were a number of other practitioners. Recent research carried out by the Sussex & Kent ME/CFS Society shows that even though ME/CFS can be a long term seriously disabling illness for many people there is much that can be done to help many patients improve significantly.

Dr Rockwell and Dr Stewart are both medical advisors to the Sussex & Kent ME/CFS Society.