Controversy³ has raged for nearly 30 years as to whether the symptoms of chronic⁵ fatigue⁶ syndrome⁷ are real or all in the mind.

 

Now a study shows the condition, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, does trigger a distinctive⁸ immune response in the body.

 

The discovery paves the way for treatments that, given early enough, could prevent years of ill health.

 

It should also help ease the stigma⁹ that has led to sufferers being dismissed as malingerers who imagine their symptoms.

 

ME affects some 250,000 Britons and is more common in women than men. It was called 'yuppie flu' in the 1980s because sufferers tend to be aged⁴ between 20 and 40 and the illness was most frequently seen among professional people.

 

Symptoms include extreme physical and mental fatigue and painful limbs. The condition can also affect memory, concentration and digestion¹⁰, with some sufferers left so weak that they lose their job or become bed or wheelchair-bound. But with the cause unclear, scepticism has remained as to whether it is a physical illness or merely psychological.

 

The researchers, from Columbia University in New York, analysed hundreds of blood samples taken from ME patients and healthy people. The blood from those with ME showed a distinct 'chemical signature'.

 

It had higher levels of various compounds released by the immune system to defend the body against infection. The link with an immune protein, interferon gamma, was particularly strong, the journal Science Advances reports.

 

Interferon gamma is blamed for the extreme tiredness that follows some viral infections and has also been linked to problems with memory.

 

The finding may help researchers develop the first diagnostic test for ME. It also raises hope of better treatments. Drugs that lower levels of some of the immune proteins already exist.

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