m.e. research could this be the cure?

>>
>>
>> Daily Mail, Good Health pages, Tuesday, May 16, 2006-05-16
>>
>> As herpes drug bringing startling results in chronic fatigue patientsS
>>
>> Is this the cure for ME?
>>
>> By Jerome Burn
>>
>>
>> A drug used too treat herpes infections has produced a dramatic
>> improvement
>> in patents severely affected by M.E., or chronic fatigue syndrome.
>>
>> Sufferers who for years have been unable to leave their homes now report
>> being able to resume normal life.
>>
>> This is a remarkable result for a treatment for this complex and
>> controversial disorder that is thought to affect as many as 240,000
>> people
>> in Britain and for which there is no cure.
>>
>> The results, reported at a scientific conference earlier this month by
>> Professor Jose Montaya of Stanford University in California, involved 12
>> patients who had been given the powerful drug valganciclovir, which
>> targets
>> the human herpes virus (HHV-6). Nine of the patients experienced a great
>> improvement.
>>
>> One of Montaya¹s cases was one-time champion figure skater Donna Flowers,
>> now aged 50 and working as a physiotherapist, who lives in California¹s
>> Silicon Valley.
>>
>> ³Two years ago, I was spending 14 hours a day in bed and my brain was so
>> fogged I couldn¹t write a letter,² she says. I wasn¹t functioning at all.
>> I¹d been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, but the doctors didn¹t have
>> anything to offer. I had to employ a full-time nanny just to look after
>> my
>> three-year-old twins.²
>>
>> However, she is now back at work, treating young Olympic hopefuls, the
>> nanny
>> has gone and she¹s just started ballet lessons.
>>
>> ³When Donna came to see us, her energy levels were around 10 per cent of
>> what she considered normal,² says Montaya. ³Today, she is functioning at
>> 90
>> percent.²
>>
>> One patient who could barely walk around the block is now cycling three
>> hours a day, while another who could not even get down the stairs to
>> breakfast is now up every day at 7am.
>>
>> The professor reported his findings to a conference on the HHV-6 virus,
>> which was held in Barcelona earlier this month.
>>
>> While it¹s well known that some patients with CFS have signs of various
>> viral infections, this is the first time that treating one of the viruses
>> has been shown to be so effective.
>>
>> ³I was amazed by the results,² says Montaya, who runs the infectious
>> diseases clinic at Stanford. ³Donna was sent to me because high levels of
>> another virus (Epstein Barr) had been detected in her system.
>>
>> ³I found high levels of HHV-6 virus as well, so I treated her with
>> valganciclovir to bring down her viral load.
>>
>> ³I¹d hoped it might help a bit, but I didn¹t expect the results to be
>> anything like as dramatic. It was pure serendipity.²
>>
>> Valgasciclovir is licensed to treat HHV-6 infections of the eye, which
>> can
>> affect transplant or cancer patients with severely weakened immune
>> systems.
>>
>> HHV-6 is not the same as the herpes virusd responsible for cold sores.
>> Most
>> commonly, it causes roseola infantum in children, who get a fever and a
>> rash.
>>
>> ³I have treated hundreds of immune compromised patents with the drug, so
>> I
>> am very familiar with it,² says Montaya. ³It can have serious
>> side-effects
>> including anaemia, so you have to monitor patients very carefully. But so
>> far none