Bacterial Fatigue?

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I have written before how our intestinal flora (bugs in our guts, in the vernacular) affect our general health. And, how they tamp down our inflammatory responses. And, how fecal transplants can help many a sick patient or improve patients well-being during chemotherapy.

But, now there’s yet another scientific study that may provide clues to a disease many of us may have dismissed as baloney. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). CFS is manifested by powerful fatigue that results from normal exertion- nor is it relieved by periods of rest. Subjects complain they are fatigued after a full night’s sleep, complain of muscle and joint pain- even gastrointestinal distress. Until now, there were no known causes and the diagnosis has required extensive testing (and subjective interpretation).

Drs. Ludovic Giloteaux, Julia Goodrich, William Walters, Susan Levin, Ruth Ley, and Maureen Hanson of Cornell University published some new research results in Microbiome. They studied biological markers for intestinal microflora and blood-based inflammatory markers (i.e., lipopolysaccharides, C-reactive protein, LPS binding protein, among others) to discern myalgic encephalomyelitis (another name for CFS) in 87 subjects. 48 of the subjects had CFS and 39 were there as controls (i.e., they were healthy).  (Yes, that means the researchers examined both the blood and stool for these 87 folks.) And, the results were definitive for the diagnosis is some 83% (82.93%, to be precise) of the patients.

The research protocol was considered since so many folks who complain of CFS also manifest irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).  And, some studies indicated that oral probiotics may alleviate the symptoms.

Gut Bacteria and CFS
Hanson et. al. as reported in Microbiome. http://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-016-0171-4

The results were definitive.  The stool samples presented a much less diverse microbial population- and those microbes that were present had few, if any, anti-inflammatory capabilities.  These same sort of results also manifested itself in the blood samples- because, according to the publication, the CFS subjects had intestinal problems that afforded the gut bacteria an entry into the blood supply.

Now, these results are great for diagnostic purposes. But, it is also critical in how we need to address the disease in the first place. Since it now seems that the colonies that survive in our gut are related to the presence of CFS.

This finding is critical! Since, as I alluded above, many diagnosticians (and the population at large) has doubted that CFS is anything but a psychological state.

It seems that the blood markers may be resulting from intestinal flora leaking into blood, which effects an immune response. Or, worse yet, may worsen the patient’s symptoms. But, the question is whether the gut bacteria population shift is the cause of CFS- or a symptom of the changes wrought by the onset of the syndrome.

Stay tuned!

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6 thoughts on “Bacterial Fatigue?”

  1. Once again, what people knew in their hearts is now vindicated by science. Like fibromyalgia. I remember when that was “imaginary”, too.

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