Can you help with the production of an American educational module on the microbiome – the name given to the bacteria, fungi and viruses that live naturally on and inside the human body, especially in the gut – and ME/CFS?
An American colleague, Dr Ken Friedman from Rowan University, Stanford USA, has been asked to develop a learning module for Scholar-Rx focused on ME/CFS and the possible involvement of the gut microbiome. To develop the module (called a “brick”) he needs a relevant case history.
Dr Friedman is reaching out to his European colleagues with the hope that we may be able to contact people or clinicians who have cases documenting microbiome involvement in the symptoms of ME/CFS and possibly successful efforts to correct the imbalance leading to improved symptoms.
- If this is a subject where you would like to pass on any information or personal experience please contact Dr Friedman at: kenneth.j.friedman@gmail.com
ME Association comment
“At the moment there is some very preliminary evidence to indicate that the microbiome could be playing a role in the causation of ME/CFS and that interventions aimed at correcting microbiome dysfunction – such as probiotics and microbiome transplants – could help with management.
“There are also a couple of small clinical trials suggesting that probiotics could be helpful in the management of Long Covid but nothing really substantial in ME/CFS. The feedback we receive on probiotic use is very mixed.
“As far as faecal microbiota transplants (FMTs) are concerned we have again received some mixed reports. However, given the fact that there is evidence to indicate that Covid-19 may persist in the gastrointestinal tract, this is not a treatment that people with ME/CFS should be using in our current state of knowledge.”
More information
The ME Association's Medical Matters contains additional information on these topics: