EFN

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), or myalgic encephalitis (ME), affects over 17 million people worldwide and has been debated as to whether it is a real condition or a physiological issue. Its origins have been difficult to trace but scientists now believe that a virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus or XMRV may be a cause. AMRV has also been implicated in an aggressive form of prostate cancer

Both CFS and XMRV-linked prostate cancer are associated with changes in a particular enzyme, which made scientists wonder if there was a connection between the virus and CFS. The researchers compared blood samples from 101 people with CFS against blood samples from 218 similar people who did not have CFS. The virus was present in the blood of 68% of the CFS patients, and only 4% of the control group.

“Now we have scientific proof that this infectious agent is a significant factor in ME/CFS,” said Whittemore, who is the mother of a ME/CFS patient and lead researcher of the study. “Patients and their doctors will soon have a blood test to verify their diagnosis and provide the answers that they’ve been seeking.”

Doctors and researchers still debate whether CFS is a disorder with physiological causes and has been labeled the “yuppie flu.”

It is estimated that only 5 percent of patients ever fully recover. In the absence of a proven cause, many scientists have questioned whether there could ever be one reason behind so many different symptoms