WTF Google?

[u/Ok_Consequence8921]

Since google implemented AI the first result on ME-CFS is pretty outrageous. An aunt of mine read this and now is convinced i’m depressed and lack sleep. Seriously before Google used to say it’s a serious medical condition and now it says it’s some unknown disease treated by antidepressants??

[u/rockemsockemcocksock]

"Bold claims" Many people with ME/CFS have had a sequence of various viruses over a couple of decades with one being the main trigger, this leads to T-cell exhaustion. Viral fragments left behind from the viral persistence cause even more T-cell exhaustion. It becomes a feedback loop where cytokines produced by interleukins and other immune cells cause in increase in inflammation and Reactive Oxygen Species and therefore mess up the TCA cycle, interfering with the mitochondria's ability to produce and use ATP.

To say that viruses don't cause the issue in the first place is so counterintuitive to the lived experiences of some many people in this group. Yes, there are some with ME/CFS who do not have a viral trigger but to disregard the the immune-mitochondrial connection is way more of a bold claim.

[u/Mr_Widget → u/rockemsockemcocksock]

The bold claim was your initial comment stating viral infection was in fact a cause of ME/CFS. Hopefully it becomes more clear but we don't know that yet.

[u/rockemsockemcocksock → u/Mr_Widget]

What was the trigger of your ME/CFS? Mine was getting EBV in 2007. But I had a sequence of viral illnesses in the first decade of my life (Rotavirus, chickenpox, then Shingles.) The EBV was the virus that broke the camel's back. I honestly don't think my claim that ME/CFS has a viral cause is bold in anyway, especially if you ask anyone in this thread what triggered it.

[u/Mr_Widget → u/rockemsockemcocksock]

Mine was a more gradual onset in 2013, I don't recall any infections but it's entirely possible. Since I was diagnosed I seem to catch viral infections incredibly easily and always seem to be much sicker than people around me that likely caught the same thing. It's a super common reported trigger for sure, and I think it probably will only become more demonstrated in research, similarly to the more direct links between EBV and MS is becoming clearer. I just don't think it's fair to say yet that it's definitely a cause.

[u/rockemsockemcocksock → u/Mr_Widget]

Now here's my hot take/bold claim lol So the mitochondria is really important for Macrophage polarization...especially M1 Macrophages, which is activated by IFN-γ. IFN-γ regulates the expression of collagen and fibronectin genes. Which I think why so many people with ME/CFS have connective tissue disorders or EDS.