Body 02 Aug 2005 11:27 am
CFIDS gene markers? and a brief rant
Scientists believe they have pinpointed biological markers of chronic fatigue syndrome which could help develop a test and treatment for the condition…
The researchers compared levels of gene expression in the white blood cells of 25 healthy people and 25 who had CFS using DNA chip technology. They found differences in the behaviour of 35 of the 9,522 genes they analysed. Further genetic testing showed 15 of the genes were up to four times more active in people with CFS, while one gene was less active.
Several genes the team pinpointed play important roles in mitochondria, the “powerhouse” of cells. One of the products of these genes is EIF4G1, which is involved in the protein production in mitochondria… Other genes are involved in regulating the immune system or playing important roles in nerve cells.
– BBC News, July 21 2005
It was strongly suggested to me yesterday that my CFS/CFIDS was due to my failure to completely shrug off the less pleasant aspects of my childhood, and that when I “stop carrying that burden” I’ll be all better. I’d like to suggest that that’s bullshit.
What really annoys me about that stuff is that it’s pretty much unfalsifiable. Sure, you can say, “If that is true, then XYZ, but not XYZ, therefore not that,” and what you’ll get is a pitying look. You poor dear, in so much denial. You can’t reason it out with them, because they know.
At heart it’s a kind of religious view, as removed from argument and evidence as any bizarre religious doctrine. (Even the language used reminds me of that of evangelical Christians pitying, chiding, and hassling those who haven’t accepted the Good News.) If you’re going to base your opinions on unfounded speculation and ill-conceived “poetic” notions, you might as well go all out and embrace the idea that illness is caused by karma from previous lives.
ETA: What I should have done is invoke Flying Spaghetti Monsterism. Perhaps it was my years of studying evolutionary biology that caused Him to reach out His noodly appendage and put me on a different path. Praise!
on 02 Aug 2005 at 11:50 am 1.Mia said …
Totally!
on 02 Aug 2005 at 12:09 pm 2.Joy said …
Who the hell? and what the fuck? Yeah, and I respectfully suggest in return their recurring sinus infection is the result of their failure to stop snorting crack…
On a broader note, that kind of nonsense is why it is impossible for me to discuss my mental health issues with my mother, no matter how much she’d like to be supportive. The conversation inevitably turns to something about how if I’d just try coming back to church… because as we all know, if you smash your hand in the car door, the best way to help it heal is to keep going back and smashing it in the car door again!
on 02 Aug 2005 at 12:21 pm 3.Cam Sculpin said …
Well, sure. If you keep smashing your hand in the car door, why, after a while you don’t even feel it!
Personally, though I know those issues have caused you much trouble and grief, I tend to believe that your having issues with that church is a sign of your deeper sanity, sense, and mental well-being. It’s the women in that church without apparent issues whom I find most worrisome. Adapting that well to strict patriarchy… well.
on 02 Aug 2005 at 12:41 pm 4.cissa said …
Flying Spaghetti Monsterism is the answer to many things. Praise indeed!
And sympathy for the rest…
on 02 Aug 2005 at 5:32 pm 5.Rechercher said …
Now where did I leave that steel pipe?
on 02 Aug 2005 at 5:38 pm 6.Rechercher said …
I almost missed it! Thank you for showing me my new religion! Praise the great Spaghetti Monster.
on 17 Apr 2006 at 6:47 pm 7.Craig said …
HAHA, I have had the exact same experience….. it’s funny now but when I think back its really not funny at all. I heard the exact same bullshit about my childhood and everything lol. It scary how we get used to putting up with this shit, it doesn’t even register on my radar anymore…..
He then tried to put me on antidepresants…
I really enjoyed your rant thankyou.
Craig
on 17 Apr 2006 at 8:21 pm 8.Cam Sculpin said …
You’re welcome!
I actually went and tried a bunch of antidepressants a few years ago. (All props to the mind-body connection, right?) You didn’t miss much. They didn’t work worth a damn, unsurprisingly. While early research did indicate that there was some usefulness to antidepressants in low doses, especially tricyclics, I’ve read that more careful later research has showed little or no such effect among non-depressed CFS/CFIDS patients. Prescribing SSRIs appears to be particularly without merit even for PWCs with depression.
I’m just plain not depressed. Grouchy from time to time, maybe — that philosophastering bullshit is probably always going to show up on my radar — but not depressed.
Which was, in a way, disappointing. For a while there I was hoping it was some sort of weird crypto-depression, because as serious as depression may be, there are well-established treatments for it. Plus, all the cool kids are taking antidepressants these days.
What has worked for me to a surprisingly great extent is a whole lot of antioxidants, plus choosing not to smash myself against my physical limits day after day, plus very cautious exercise. Plus good luck, I suspect. I’m kicking CFS’s ass these days.