Chronic fatigue syndrome being linked to a recently discovered retrovirus raised the ire of a few skeptics, due to previous studies showing no correlation between the two.
Recently, a second study has been done, which has found a link between chronic-fatigue syndrome and the same class of viruses, known that the MRV-related category.
Scientists found gene sequences from several MRV-related viruses in blood cells from 32 out of 37 chronic-fatigue patients but only 3 of 44 healthy ones.
“I think it settles the issue of whether the initial report was real or not,” said K. Kimberly McCleary, president of the CFIDS Association of America, the leading organization for people with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Almost one million Americans suffer from chronic-fatigue syndrome, which can have affects on everyday life that drastically cut down the quality of life of the sufferer. Currently, there is no known cause of this problem, and no accepted diagnostic tests to find out whether or not someone is a sufferer.
Leonard A. Jason, a professor of psychology at DePaul University and a leading researcher on the syndrome, agreed. “This class of retroviruses is probably going to be an important piece of the puzzle,” he said.