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May 12th - International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
Thoughts by Alan Cocchetto, NCF Medical Director (Copyright 2023)

As I reflect on the CFS science over the last 30+ years, it has become obvious that the patient community needs a simple but serious reality check. Let's apply some simple logic:

1. Patients, for the most part, refuse to recognize that CFS is a cancer process [Chronic fatigue syndrome and subsequent risk of cancer among elderly US adults.
Cancer; Chang et al, 2012].

2. Because of #1 above, many CFS studies bear little weight relative to the importance of these disease endpoints.

3. As pointed out in our paper [A Proposed New Model to Explain the Role of Low Dose Non-DNA Targeted Radiation Exposure in Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome; Cocchetto et al, 2023], genomic instability and chromosomal damage have been identified in CFS patient cells.

4. Micronuclei have been identified in CFS patient cells [Phenotypic characteristics of peripheral immune cells of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome via transmission electron microscopy: A pilot study; Jahanbani et al, 2022].

5. Micronuclei are small membrane bounded compartments with a DNA content encapsulated by a nuclear envelope and spatially separated from the primary nucleus. Micronuclei have long been linked to chromosome instability, genome rearrangements, and mutagenesis [Causes and consequences of micronuclei; Krupina et al, 2021]. Micronuclei play a central role in tumorigenesis, with micronuclear DNA being a source of complex genome rearrangements. As such, they are frequently found in cancers.

6. Mutations can occur at the level of a chromosome, through chromosomal breakage which includes: Deletion - loss of a piece of DNA from a chromosome. Deletion of a gene or part of a gene can lead to a disease or abnormality. Duplication - production of one or more copies of any piece of DNA, including a gene or even an entire chromosome. Insertion - a type of chromosomal abnormality in which a DNA sequence is inserted into a gene, disrupting the normal structure and function of that gene. Translocation - breakage and removal of a large segment of DNA from one chromosome, followed by the segment's attachment to a different chromosome. [Chromosomal mutations: Molecular Biology Review - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Class/MLACourse/Modules/MolBioReview/mutation_chromosome.html

7. The very nature and characteristics that define the chromosomal damage found in CFS patients tells us much about the biological source of the problem associated with the cause of this type of damage [Karyotype Heterogeneity and Unclassified Chromosomal Abnormalities; Heng et al, 2013], [CBS covers CFS research; https://www.ncf-net.org/forum/2012summer2.htm, [National CFIDS Foundation's Research Finds Chromosome Damage in Patients Diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis; PRNewswire, 2014]. Chromosomal analysis, using SKY technology, showed results consistent with radiation exposure.

8. Given the above, other CFS research groups should look closely at chromosomal damage in these patients. Let's just save the patient community much time, effort and money by jumping to the end of the book to verify, or not, the previous scientific discoveries as this will tell us about a much bigger story regarding our world!

P.S. - Ionizing radiation damages the genetic material in reproductive cells and results in mutations that are transmitted from generation to generation [Genetic Effects of Radiation; Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: Beir V. - www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218706

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The Foundation's objective is to fund research to find a cause, expedite treatments and eventually a cure, as well as providing information, education, and support to people who have CFIDS (chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and many other names.


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