I've been attending IACFS/ME conferences for almost ten years and I am impressed. This conference is packed with more interesting talks than any conference I can remember. If you're going to attend now is the time to buy your tickets and reserve your hotel room. Today, the 25th, is the last day to get the special hotel price and the discounted rate for the conference tomorrow, the 26th.
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[/fright]On Thursday everybody will be listening closely Vicky Whittemore as she talks on “New Developments at the NIH”. Then Dr. Peterson and Dr. Fluge will talk on Rituximab and other new treatments in the patient portion of the conference. This will be the first time, I believe that Drs. Fluge and Mella have made it across the ocean to the IACFS/ME conference. It’ll be good to meet the two oncologists turned ME/CFS specialists who have provided such hope.
Then there will be a series of patient and professional workshops on disability, pacing, mindfulness, international advocacy, diagnosing enteroviral infections, orthostatic intolerance, cardiopulmonary exercise testing.
Later another new addition to the field, Jarred Younger, will talk about if not opioids, then what? and then he and Dr. Bateman will do a session on fibromyalgia.
Rituximab and Emerging Treatments
Dr. Fluge will begin the next day with a special 45-minute presentation on how the Rituximab trials have helped us understand the cause of ME/CFS.
In a potentially huge and encouraging finding, not Dr. Fluge or Mella, but Dr. Patrick from Canada will speak on an immune signature that he believe may predict which ME/CFS patients will respond to Rituximab. Dr. Strayer from Hemispherx will not be speaking (how did that not happen?) but he will be presenting similar findings for Ampligen at the conference.
One wonders what conceivable reasons the NIH could have for not funding both Rituximab and Ampligen ME/CFS trials now that it appears that we may be able to target who the drugs work for.
Dr. Giloteaux from the distinguished Cornell microbiome lab will tell us how both the bacteria and the viruses found in the guts of ME/CFS patients are different.
Dr. Shungu’s ground breaking studies have found high lactate in ME/CFS patient’s brains… now he’s going to use brain imaging to show how N-Acetylcysteine – long suspected by some to be helpful in ME/CFS – helped to alleviate that problem and improve symptoms.
Lunch With Dr. Unger
Then you can have lunch with Dr. Unger as she and her team present four talks on the CDC’s big ME/CFS multisite study.
A Mitochondrial Disease?
Jon Kaiser of Synergy will moderate what will surely be a fascinating discussion on whether mitochondrial problems cause ME/CFS featuring Ron Davis, Dr. Nancy Klimas and Dr. Shungu.
[fleft]View attachment 2057 [/fleft]Exercise is going to be getting a real workout at the conference. Dr. Van Ness of Workwell will report on a new exercise anomaly found in ME/CFS called chronotropic incompetence (CI) and what that means. People with CI to have trouble getting their heart rates up to speed during exercise.
Dr. Haddad is going to tell us that exercise alters immune functioning (cytokine levels) in ME/CFS. (But do cytokines go up or down? My guess is down!).
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
We’ve seen all sorts of different abnormalities during exercise but not one consistent one. Dr. Betsy Keller is going to bring some order out of that chaos by finally talking about the subsets of ME/CFS she’s found during exercise tests. Dr. Katarina Lien from Norway will show that exercise increases blood lactate levels.
Some people with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) get better with exercise, but a new face on the scene, Madison Keefe of Georgetown, will show that in other people exercise actually induces POTS. Finally, Dane Cook will show how exercise affects brain functioning and Dr. Hanson will talk on metabolomics (presumably after exercise).
In other talks Gordon Broderick on tell us how sex hormones may be driving ME/CFS symptoms. (How could they not play a role given the all the gynecological problems found?)
Jose Montoya will show cytokines are associated with disease severity. We’ll get five talks on gene expression and epigenetics.
Many New Faces Highlight Best Conference Yet
That said, I’ve been going to conferences for almost ten years and this is easily the most exciting yet. The number of researchers new to the field (at least 15) presenting at the conference that I had never heard of was very promising – and it was smart of the IACFS/ME to give them slots. In the next five years my guess is that the IACFS/ME will either need to add a day or two or go to a yearly conference (my preference). This field is growing up.
Plus the day before the IACFS/ME Conference begins Nova Southeastern Unity will host a pre-conference day on Complex Neuro Inflammatory Conditions featuring Ron Davis, Gordon Broderick, Nancy Klimas, Mary Ann Fletcher, Irma Rey and others.
- Check out Registration Information here.
[fright]
Then there will be a series of patient and professional workshops on disability, pacing, mindfulness, international advocacy, diagnosing enteroviral infections, orthostatic intolerance, cardiopulmonary exercise testing.
Later another new addition to the field, Jarred Younger, will talk about if not opioids, then what? and then he and Dr. Bateman will do a session on fibromyalgia.
Rituximab and Emerging Treatments
Dr. Fluge will begin the next day with a special 45-minute presentation on how the Rituximab trials have helped us understand the cause of ME/CFS.
In a potentially huge and encouraging finding, not Dr. Fluge or Mella, but Dr. Patrick from Canada will speak on an immune signature that he believe may predict which ME/CFS patients will respond to Rituximab. Dr. Strayer from Hemispherx will not be speaking (how did that not happen?) but he will be presenting similar findings for Ampligen at the conference.
One wonders what conceivable reasons the NIH could have for not funding both Rituximab and Ampligen ME/CFS trials now that it appears that we may be able to target who the drugs work for.
Dr. Giloteaux from the distinguished Cornell microbiome lab will tell us how both the bacteria and the viruses found in the guts of ME/CFS patients are different.
Dr. Shungu’s ground breaking studies have found high lactate in ME/CFS patient’s brains… now he’s going to use brain imaging to show how N-Acetylcysteine – long suspected by some to be helpful in ME/CFS – helped to alleviate that problem and improve symptoms.
Lunch With Dr. Unger
Then you can have lunch with Dr. Unger as she and her team present four talks on the CDC’s big ME/CFS multisite study.
A Mitochondrial Disease?
Jon Kaiser of Synergy will moderate what will surely be a fascinating discussion on whether mitochondrial problems cause ME/CFS featuring Ron Davis, Dr. Nancy Klimas and Dr. Shungu.
[fleft]View attachment 2057 [/fleft]Exercise is going to be getting a real workout at the conference. Dr. Van Ness of Workwell will report on a new exercise anomaly found in ME/CFS called chronotropic incompetence (CI) and what that means. People with CI to have trouble getting their heart rates up to speed during exercise.
Dr. Haddad is going to tell us that exercise alters immune functioning (cytokine levels) in ME/CFS. (But do cytokines go up or down? My guess is down!).
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
We’ve seen all sorts of different abnormalities during exercise but not one consistent one. Dr. Betsy Keller is going to bring some order out of that chaos by finally talking about the subsets of ME/CFS she’s found during exercise tests. Dr. Katarina Lien from Norway will show that exercise increases blood lactate levels.
Some people with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) get better with exercise, but a new face on the scene, Madison Keefe of Georgetown, will show that in other people exercise actually induces POTS. Finally, Dane Cook will show how exercise affects brain functioning and Dr. Hanson will talk on metabolomics (presumably after exercise).
In other talks Gordon Broderick on tell us how sex hormones may be driving ME/CFS symptoms. (How could they not play a role given the all the gynecological problems found?)
Jose Montoya will show cytokines are associated with disease severity. We’ll get five talks on gene expression and epigenetics.
Many New Faces Highlight Best Conference Yet
That said, I’ve been going to conferences for almost ten years and this is easily the most exciting yet. The number of researchers new to the field (at least 15) presenting at the conference that I had never heard of was very promising – and it was smart of the IACFS/ME to give them slots. In the next five years my guess is that the IACFS/ME will either need to add a day or two or go to a yearly conference (my preference). This field is growing up.
- Check out Registration Information here.
Plus the day before the IACFS/ME Conference begins Nova Southeastern Unity will host a pre-conference day on Complex Neuro Inflammatory Conditions featuring Ron Davis, Gordon Broderick, Nancy Klimas, Mary Ann Fletcher, Irma Rey and others.
- Find out more about it here.
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