Younger Pain and Fatigue Lab Expands: Live YouTube Event on Thursday (March 3rd)

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Jarred Younger took a chance when he moved from Stanford University to the University of Alabama at Birmingham but it seems to have paid off. It seems that with every newsletter we hear how his lab has grown. The latest newsletter adds eight new members to his team (a graduate student, a full time research coordinator, four undergraduates, and two nursing students.)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham clearly sees the FM, ME/CFS and pain and fatigue diseases as a growth field. Younger's move to Stanford has been a good.one The Stanford group under Dr. Montoya has bold plans but few studies have been published and no major grant awards that I can find have been awarded. Younger has been able to win several major grant awards and a full slate of research and treatment studies are underway. He's in good place.

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Younger-Lab.jpg
[/fright]Live YouTube Event Coming Up
- Younger is one of a newer breed of researchers who are comfortable using social media to get the word out. On Thurs, March 3, at 3pm CST at a YouTube event you'll be able to ask questions about recent developments at his lab. The questions will focus on his work on neuroinflammation's likely role in chronic pain and chronic fatiguing diseases. You can attend and participate by going to this link at the appointed date and time:http://bit.ly/YoungerLabBroadcast


Send in pre-broadcast questions to jarredyoungerlab@gmail.com. Join the Facebook event to follow updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/1722495777966137/

Brain Neuroinflammation Study Has Begun - Younger's exciting project to assess the degree of neuroinflammation in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) patients brains has begun. There's a race on in the medical community to develop the best way to test for lower levels of neuroinflammation in the brain. Of the many techniques under development Younger's is the only one I've read about which assesses temperature levels. Younger believes that an inflamed brain is a slighter hotter brain. He reports that he's already tested several people with pain and fatigue and found that their brains are indeed hotter than normal.

Good Day/Bad Day Study Under Way - Younger also got a major grant from the NIH for an expanded good day/bad day study. You may recall that his earlier good day/bad study suggested that leptin, probably via the microglia, could be driving the immune dysfunction and symptoms in ME/CFS.This study is much larger and will examine more immune factors. It has already begun.

LDN Study Beginning Soon - Younger will soon be starting the first low dose naltrexone study ever done in ME/CFS.

Major Pain and Fatigue Treatment Center Envisioned - Younger's longer term goal "is to develop a “fast-track” clinical trial center for pain, fatigue and neuroinflammation that will test new treatments much faster than through the conventional routes. This center would give many of you access to the newest possible treatments.
 
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Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
I was just about too. :jawdrop: Thanks for the reminder :)
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
My notes - from about 10 minutes in.....

Reception has been perfect from UAB and from the patient side.

How many people working in lab - at least 18 couldn't figure out. We have grown really fast. There aere a lot of of people who want to join the lab and had to turn them away

12 ongoing studies! Increases our capacity to do research. We can do multiply studies at a time. Has a clinical trial unit, brain scan lab and immune modulation unit.

What is behind all the growth in the lab?

Part is the warm reception from UAB - put them on the front cover of the publications, grads and undergrads see that.

Thinks similar neuroininflammatory processes at work in ME/CFS and FM

Are they the same? They're going to start answering that question ithis year with the ME/CFS LDN study. IF the response is the same they are similar

Explain that he believes that ME/CFS and FM have sensitized immune system which causes inflammation in the brain and symptoms.

Does he recommend LDN for ME/CFS? He can’t recommend anything until someone has done a trial.

Acquired a new brain scan - put them in a normal MRI scanner - just got it working a month ago - have run 2 people with ME/CFS, 1 with RA and healthy controls. Individuals with ME/CFS and RA had higher brain temp than controls. 1-2 temps. Has a grant with ME/CFS I the works -will take 3-4 months. Big findings - if they can show it it will be an objective…..ultimately should be able to target temps in certain brain areas

Medical cannabis - probably won't do - very tough to do unless it is full-time job because it is so tough to do because of government hurdles. Can't do as part-time job…It's demonstrated to work with chronic pain

Best binder for LDN?

Could low blood flows result in brain temperature? (My question :)) They will do arterial labeling scan - will trace blood as it goes through the neck - will determine normal vs abnormal blood flow...They will do that with everyone they study.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
ME and central sleep apnea - will he research that? No - Central sleep apnea is sleep apnea caused by the central nervous system - that could be caused by brain stem and some serious conditions.

Tina notes that Anthony Komaroff asked same question - said studies indicate that a higher incidence of sleep apnea in ME/CFS but all the symptoms of ME/CFS don't go away...

We just had a story posted of a women who thought she had ME/CFS but she sleep apnea and was cured.

Direct Trancranial magnetic stimulation - passes currents underneath skull - being tested for depression and fatigue - probably won't be testing that - it's being covered by other researchers.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Has a grant to study nine different botanicals in GWS. If some of them really work the next thing he will do is try them in FM and ME/CFS...

Conceptually he believes that GWS, FM and ME/CFS are essentially the same disorder.

Lyme Disease, FM and ME/CFS overlaps - notes that ticks are carrying other diseases as well. If you ahve a fever then especially focus on the infection or you could be infected and it's gone but left its mark on the immune system - that's what he thinks is probably going on in ME/CFS and FM. Testing is very expensive, however.

States he needs a board to follow all his studies!

Brain temperature study - starting up - looking promising - doing it in FM and ME/CFS - will be recruiting this year for the brain temperature studies. Easy to do - you just sit in scanner - no infusion required - will do RA, MS and traumatic brain injury as well.

Good day / Bad day study - finished 13 people through 25 days of blood draws - even despite a car fire in the parking lot that closed the hospital job....they have to take blood draws every day :wideyed:

Tina says "hotheads" in ME/CFS :smuggrin:

Will be doing dextromothorphan study - another microglial inhibitor - will combine it with LDN in a study.

Alcohol sensitivity - pilot study - to create data for grant - ran FM group - the idea behind it - he found that no one was drinking alcohol in his study participants - so testing the immune response to alcohol - need two more people and a healthy control - will have tentative answer to the question.....get a little bit of vodka and get paid $300. ..
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Rituxian and Copaxone - could Copaxone have a similar effect to Rituxian? Very possible. Difference between MS and ME/CFS - inflammation plus neural damage - that is not the case with ME/CFS/FM. ME/CFS/FM is probably inflammation without nerve damage; eg. MS is a more extreme version. Idea is to deplete the b-cell population whicu keeps them from breaking through the blood brain barrier and assaulting the nervous system.

Wiping out your b-cell population - could have adverse effect but promising area of research.

A validated biomarker could catalyze the field tremendously. Some groups can turn research findings into drugs fairly quickly - a year. The govt slows things down - to prove it would take probably five years.

Drug repurposing - is the best short term answer.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Australia report of biomarker - exciting - researcher has been doing this stuff for awhile - makes sense to him - need more information - be following that really closely.

Fast Track Clinical Center - Younger will start fast-track clinical trials centers - designed to run clinical trials as quickly as possible - a dozen at a time...Frustrated at how slow clinical trials are...Can took two years just get one going...Thinks it's the way to make the biggest impact fastest.
Says $4 million (????) to get it going. Expect more information soon....(What a great project:hungry:)

What is needed happen to make the most progress quickly? From his perspective - funding - one reason he's trying fast-track clinical trials.

Finding participants is a big need. People with the ability to put pressure on government officials - encouraged by all the work - more of that is very helpful.

Join Facebook, sign up for newsletter, describe to YouTube channel - to get info on upcoming events and studies.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Just got this email about the alcohol study....(I am too old for it! sigh...I'm also the wrong gender (lol))

We are currently conducting a research study at UAB and are recruiting
healthy women who were born in 1961-1963 or 1974-1976, and are under 56
years of age.

This research study aims to better understand how alcohol affects the immune
system in people with fibromyalgia. We will ask you to drink a small amount
of alcohol so that we can assess its effect on markers of immune activity.
You will be asked to come to UAB 3 times over 3 weeks.

There will be 1 telephone screening, 1 eligibility screening, 1 experimental session & 1
follow-up session.

If you are eligible to participate in this study, you
will be compensated up to $350. ($25/eligibility screen; $300/experimental
session; $25/follow up session). Participants must be: female; healthy; aged
55 or less and born in 1961-1963 or 1974-1976; not pregnant or currently
planning to become pregnant; without any significant medical conditions such
as heart disease; not using any opioid medication or have a history of
alcohol dependence.

To find out more about this study, please call
205-530-8006 or email youngerlab@uab.edu.
 

IrisRV

Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the notes, @Cort. They are a real boon to those of us who can't follow audio/video for very long, or who simply can't be available at the right time of day.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Thanks
Thanks for all the notes, @Cort. They are a real boon to those of us who can't follow audio/video for very long, or who simply can't be available at the right time of day.
Good to hear....I hope they were legible :)
 

ShyestofFlies

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the notes Cort. If I were old enough I might consider that alcohol study, but I think I'd have to turn it down. Alcohol just ruins me. I think I'll make a post about that symptom.
 

Remy

Administrator
I am still curious if the higher brain temperature is causing the lowered body temperature many of us experience in MECFS...like the brain is too hot, so the body turns down the thyroid in an attempt to reduce the temperature all over and so the body gets too cool in an effort to spare the brain from becoming even warmer. That might explain why our "hypothyroidism" doesn't much look like autoimmune thyroid conditions and why so many of us are unable to tolerate thyroid meds.
 

Strike me lucky

Well-Known Member
It seems to be very common amongst other cfsers where we get the head sweats. I wonder if this is part of the reason. Sometimes it just pours off me for no real reason but i dont sweat anywhere but the head and hair will be drenched from it.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
I am still curious if the higher brain temperature is causing the lowered body temperature many of us experience in MECFS...like the brain is too hot, so the body turns down the thyroid in an attempt to reduce the temperature all over and so the body gets too cool in an effort to spare the brain from becoming even warmer. That might explain why our "hypothyroidism" doesn't much look like autoimmune thyroid conditions and why so many of us are unable to tolerate thyroid meds.
Interesting idea! :)
 

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