%0 Journal Article
%T An Etiological Model for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
%A Leonard A. Jason
%A Matthew Sorenson
%A Nicole Porter
%A Natalie Belkairous
%J Neuroscience & Medicine
%P 14-27
%@ 2158-2947
%D 2011
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/nm.2011.21003
%X Kindling might represent a heuristic model for understanding the etiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Kindling occurs when an organism is exposed repeatedly to an initially sub-threshold stimulus re-sulting in hypersensitivity and spontaneous seizure-like activity. Among patients with ME/CFS, chronically repeated low-intensity stimulation due to an infectious illness might cause kindling of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Kindling might also occur by high-intensity stimulation (e.g., brain trauma) of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Once this system is charged or kindled, it can sustain a high level of arousal with little or no external stimulus and eventually this could lead to hypocortisolism. Seizure activity may spread to adjacent structures of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis in the brain, which might be responsible for the varied symptoms that occur among patients with ME/CFS. In addition, kindling may also be responsible for high levels of oxidative stress, which has been found in patients with ME/CFS.
%K Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
%K Kindling
%K Limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary Cxis
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=4275