• 25
  • January
    2012

Louisville, Kentucky, residents who suffer from difficult-to-diagnose medical conditions such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) know first-hand just how frustrating it can be to live with a disorder that prevents them from being able to work or from being able to participate in other physical activities that they once enjoyed.

In addition to enduring the painful symptoms of the disorders, individuals oftentimes have to undergo numerous tests just to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia or CFS, which can be a lengthy and exhausting process. And even after a patient is finally diagnosed with a chronic illness, he or she could spend another several months trying to obtain Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

But in 2009, the results of a study suggested that an underlying cause for CFS was discovered, providing many individuals from Louisville and all over the world with hope that the disorder would one day be easy to diagnose and treat. Unfortunately, the authors of the study recently retracted some of their findings.

The results of the study were originally published in the journal Science in 2009. The authors of the study had analyzed 101 patients who suffered from CFS and discovered that 67 percent of the patients had contracted the retrovirus XMRV. Due to the high number of CFS patients with the virus, the authors concluded that the virus may have been the underlying cause of the disorder. But since the study was published, subsequent studies have failed to reach similar conclusions. Another study discovered that the virus was also common in a number of patients who did not suffer from CFS.

The underlying cause of CFS remains unknown even though more than one million Americans suffer from the disorder. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, men are less likely to develop the disorder compared to women. The department also reported that individuals between the ages of 40 and 59 are more at risk of developing the difficult-to-diagnose illness. The disorder can be debilitating, causing individuals to suffer from extreme fatigue, muscle pain, headaches and impaired memory.

Source: dailyRX, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Link with XMRV Questioned," Nicole McEwen, Jan. 12, 2012