Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & ME

Misguided Immune responses?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-has-a-special-kind-of-memory-for-past-infections/#

I often describe the LP as “training the brain to respond appropriately rather than historically”.

In a recent Scientific American article on the brain’s role in peripheral immune function –
“The BRAIN had retained some sort of memory of the infection & was prepared to reinitiate the fight”.

“Many intestinal disorders are triggered by stress or strong emotions. The researchers think this causes neurons in the insular cortex to misfire, REACTIVATING an immunological memory & triggering a misguided immune response”

Interesting! Many people I work with trace the start of their issues to a virus (commonly Epstein Barr for ME/CFS) and now we are seeing long covid play out around the world.

A brain based approach to health allows us to see that these flare ups might not be a re-activation of the virus, but a re-activation of our learnt neurological responses to past viruses. (a ‘misguided immune response’ or mal-adaptive response).

This perspective allows us to move away from management and towards retraining the brain to respond appropriately rather than historically.