People suffering from a debilitating and often discounted disease known as chronic fatigue syndrome may soon have something they've been seeking for decades: scientific proof of their ailment.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have created a blood test that can flag the disease, which currently lacks a standard, reliable diagnostic test.
"Too often, this disease is categorized as imaginary," said Ron Davis, PhD, professor of biochemistry and of genetics. When individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome seek help from a doctor, they may undergo a series of tests that check liver, kidney and heart function, as well as blood and immune cell counts, Davis said. "All these different tests would normally guide the doctor toward one illness or another, but for chronic fatigue syndrome patients, the results all come back normal," he said.
The problem, he said, is that they're not looking deep enough. Now, Davis; Rahim Esfandyarpour, PhD, a former Stanford research associate; and their colleagues have devised a blood-based test that successfully identified participants in a study with chronic fatigue syndrome. The test, which is still in a pilot phase, is based on how a person's immune cells respond to stress. With blood samples from 40 people -- 20 with chronic fatigue syndrome and 20 without -- the test yielded precise results, accurately flagging all chronic fatigue syndrome patients and none of the healthy individuals.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases ... 042419.php
30 Apr 2019, 3:35 am
