Today ProHealth published breaking news surrounding new developments for ME/CFS. Dr. Kenny De Meirleir, a Belgian ME/CFS researcher & scientist, announced in a press conference that together with his team, they believe to have uncovered possibly one of the major causes for ME/CFS and have a diagnostic test as well. They have also discovered “possible therapeutic strategies” for ME/CFS. Dr. De Meirleir is well known for his cutting edge ME/CFS research and is a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and Director of HIMMUNITAS Foundation Brussels.
Dr. De Meirleir says that one of the major causes of ME/CFS is from high levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). High levels of H2S can cause several reactions in the body and these reactions deplete cells of energy and oxygen. High levels of H2S can damage the liver, heart, & central nervous system. The article on ProHealth states that:
Being a potent neurotoxin, H2S induces photophobia, intolerance to noise, mitochondrial dysfunction by inhibition of cytochrome oxidase, and depresses the cellular immune system and induces neutropenia and low numbers of CD8+ lymphocytes.
Dr. De Meirleir also states that the people who are most disabled by ME/CFS have developed “aberrant prions”:
These aberrant prions give rise to a transmissible disorder. 10% of the A.P.D. patients have very high prion counts in their saliva and can directly transmit it to others. APD patients can transmit these proteins via blood and likely also through sexual contact which then can give rise to slowly developing aberrant prion disease. In a separate experiment 40 healthy blood donors were screened for A.P.D. One individual tested very positive, indicating that apparently healthy individuals can already be carriers and that blood transfusion carries the risk of transmitting A.P.D. In conclusion, ME is a disorder which is caused by increased endogenous H2S production. For the latter many factors can be present.
Because of the effects of H2S in the body a chain of events will develop which have more and more negative effects on the aerobic metabolism and depression of the immune system leading to more and more infections and reactivation of endogenous viruses.
In its final stage aberrant transmissible prions develop which put the patients in a total energy depleted state.
The diagnostic test for ME/CFS by Dr. De Meirleir is called the Neurotoxic Metabolite Test and it will be available for purchase from Protea Biopharma. The Neurotoxic Metabolite Test is a urine test that will detect if high levels of H2S are present in the body. For this test the patient will:
- collect the urine sample
- open the tube containing the test reagent
- add one drop of urine to the test reagent
- mix by gently shaking the tube and wait for two minutes
- observe color changes
For negative samples, there will be no change in color. Moderate positive results will slightly darken and strong positive results will turn very dark.
Oh my…I’ve long suspected that I’m on the road to CFS but am not sure whether I want to know for certain or not, especially considering that I already am being treated for my symptoms and pretty much live my life according to Fibro/CFS rules. (In terms of rationing energy, working on relationships, knowing my triggers, not beating myself up, etc.)
But geez, this is so inexpensive. Cheaper even than the tests to check melatonin levels, if I remember. I might have to do it…
(By the way, finally picked up my meds this morning. Though the insurance site listed the out-of-pocket price at $10 for some reason, when I checked CVS’s site they had it listed as $36 — for that $$, I could wait a day. I was worried about a day of cold-turkey after over a year of daily use, but with the help of the rest of my vast arsenal I made it through! Thanks for your response.)
I know this post a a few years old now, but I thought I’d leave a comment to note that the test kits can still be bought today.
That alone must mean that it works; and it’s still inexpensive too.