An Etiological Model for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

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An Etiological Model for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

LA, Sorenson M, Porter N, Belkairous N. Neurosci Med. 2011 Mar 1;2(1):14-27.SourceDe University, Center for Community Research. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, USA.

AbstractKindling 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.

PMID: 21892413 [PubMed]