by Cort Johnson | Dec 5, 2019 | Brain, Brainstem, Homepage
The most primitive part of the brain, the brainstem – a part of “the reptilian brain” – doesn’t get much respect in medical research. VanElzakker pointed out that most brain scan studies focus on the upper, more highly developed parts of... 
by Cort Johnson | Oct 27, 2019 | Allodynia, Brain, Fibromyalgia and Pain, Homepage
Pain – A Surprisingly Complex Experience Pain seems pretty elementary – it hurts! When it really hurts, you want to throw yourself out of your skin. It’s actually not so simple. Pain is often described as a complex, “biopsychosocial... 
by Cort Johnson | Oct 14, 2019 | Autonomic Nervous System, Brain, Brainstem, Fibromyalgia and Pain, Gulf War Illness, Inflammation, Ion Channels, Mast cell activation syndrome
When you have a systemic disease, any part of your body can provide a clue – even your nose. Over 15 years from 1998 to 2012, James Baraniuk, a longtime ME/CFS and GWI researcher at Georgetown University, became the first and thus far the last person to try and... 
by Cort Johnson | Oct 2, 2019 | Cortisol, Exercise, Homepage, Hormones, Klimas, Limbic System, Neuroinflammation, Sex hormones
How close are we to understanding chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) when we can accurately predict how the greatest stressor of all – exercise – affects ME/CFS patients’ physiology? Nothing, after all, whacks a person with ME/CFS like exercise.... 
by Cort Johnson | Sep 16, 2019 | Brain, Homepage, Neuroinflammation
“The Holy Grail in this field has been to discover how to turn off neuroinflammation in microglia.” Tanzi It’s been a bitter couple of years for big pharma and the Alzheimer’s community. Just today, Eisai and Biogen announced they were abandoning... 
by Cort Johnson | Aug 12, 2019 | BDNF, Brain, Homepage, Insula, Limbic System, Small Fiber Neuropathy
It seemed ever so clear. The reduction in the number of small nerves in the skin and eyes of roughly forty percent or so of the people with fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) must bring the body – as opposed to the brain – into play....
