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£13 test for ‘yuppie flu’

ME - News - Marie Claire Rex Features

A new £13 test that claims to be able to diagnose ME (Myalgic encephalopathy) patients will be presented today at London’s Invest in ME conference.  

Studies in Australia had shown that between 60 and 70 per cent of sufferers have large numbers of bacteria called enterococci and streptococchi in their gut.

Prof Kenny De Meirleir, from Vrije University, in Brussels, who created the new test, said that these bacteria, in combination with metals like mercury, create high levels of a gas, Hydrogen Sulphate, in the body.

This then limits the body's ability to produce energy and creates a build-up of acid which muscles find difficult to break down.

Prof De Meirleir, who has seen a positive result in 80 to 90 per cent of patients said: ‘If you do not have this bacteria, you do not have ME.’

He believes that many patients could be treated with a combination of a change in diet, probiotics and antibiotics.

The test will be available from the website of the manufacturers, Protea Biopharma, from Monday.

Myalgic encephalopathy (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and dubbed ‘yuppie flu’ can leave sufferers bedridden for years.
    
The condition affects around 250,000 people in Britain, is twice as common in women than men, and typically affects patients between the ages of 20 and 40.

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Friday 29 May 2009


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My sister is 23 and has spent the past 2 yrs suffering with chronic fatigue. Many doctors told her she was just seeking attention, but when her health and energy deteriorated further, my parents brought her to london. She's already had an op for a bacteria in her stomach but didn't get better. Now a nutrionist appears to have correctly diagnosed her (based on these bacterias) and is pretty much treating her according to what's written here. Finally, she's actually improving and increasing her energy levels again.
Comment by Bex on May 29 13:05

Please, I beg of you, don't call it "Yuppie Flu"! This archaic nickname for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), marginalizes those people who suffer from this genuinely devastating physical illness.

Speaking from personal experience, I have lived with ME/CFIDS since 1997, and I am severely disabled. I am unable to work at any kind of job.

So, again, please stop perpetuating this misleading terminology. I think I speak for all survivors of ME/CFIDS with this request.

Comment by Paula on May 29 14:43

Hello

I am not sure, that having a test to prove you have ME is the answer, we need an answer to the illness, so that we can go back to normal living, instead of wasting our lives, in the prison called ME.
Comment by Miriam on May 30 13:46

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