Well well. We have a positive replication study.
For those of you just tuning in, the Whittemore Peterson Institute discovered a link last year between ME/CFS and a retrovirus called XMRV. Their study was published in Science on October 8, 2009.
Subsequent research teams failed to replicate the WPI's findings. WPI (and anyone who gave more than a cursory glance to the research) argued that these weren't true replication studies. For an accurate test of the results, they needed to use the same methodology and the same patient cohort.
Today, the FDA and NIH announced that they have independently confirmed the WPI's original findings. Their press release is here.
Hop onto Hillary Johnson's blog for some excellent insider information.
I look forward to learning more about the actual study, yet to be published. In the meantime, this is a lovely bit of good news to brighten an otherwise ordinary day.
2 comments:
This is really exciting news. I can hardly wait to tell my (sympathetic) doctor. :)
Just saw it's up on the WSJ..
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/06/23/further-evidence-of-an-xmrv-chronic-fatigue-connection/
Very exciting!
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