Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: It's Not XMRV

Editors of the esteemed journal Science today asked the authors of the 2009 study linking chronic fatigue syndrome to the retrovirus XMRV to retract their original paper. Outspoken co-author Judy Mikovitz has so far refused to do so. The Wall Street Journal broke the story. The Retraction Watch blog has an interesting analysis and commentary.

And that is that.

We are crestfallen, but not surprised, to hear this news. See our March 29 post for strong hints in this general direction. Look for changes soon to our CFS page, along with a flurry of important updates and upgrades all across our website.

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Arthritis: Gout Awareness Day

Maybe it's the word gout. Most people think of it as a disease from history. Or they find it kind of humorous. Actually, gout is a painful form of arthritis, and according to the Gout and Uric Acid Education Society, the number of Americans with gout has actually doubled over the past 30 years. Our awareness is especially high this Gout Awareness Day, as we begin updating our arthritis page and upgrading our entire Diseases and Conditions section. What a fine time for everyone to download the Society's informative brochure. Now please help us source this neat illustration [above right, click to enlarge].

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Stroke And HBOT: For The Record

Is hyperbaric oxygen therapy useful? In an otherwise clear and fair reply to this question, Dr Andrew Weil today wrongly listed stroke among the "conventional" uses of HBOT. Specifically he says HBOT is used "to speed stroke recovery."

Stroke is not an FDA-cleared or UHMS-approved indication for hyperbaric oxygen. We judged the current evidence on HBOT for stroke promising when we published our stroke page and posted our summary here in 2009. Basing their analysis solely on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the authors of a 2005 Cochrane Review article see things differently:

We did not find good evidence to show that HBOT improves clinical outcomes when applied during the acute presentation of ischaemic stroke. While evidence from the six RCTs is insufficient to provide clear guidelines for practice, the possibility of clinical benefit has not been excluded. Further research is required to better define the role of HBOT in this condition.

Italics ours. Yes, the evidence on HBOT for stroke is pretty thin, both in the the acute phase and in longer-term recovery. Is it the hyperbaric oxygen therapy or the clinical trials that have been weak?

Weil's error seems harmless enough. He oddly mentions stroke again in his list of conditions for which he finds "no persuasive scientific evidence" that HBOT can help: AIDS, arthritis, sports injuries, multiple sclerosis, autism, stroke, cerebral palsy, senility, cirrhosis, Lyme disease, and ulcers. No argument there.

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Getting Serious About Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria

As we were enjoying last month's io9 feature (see "Fun With Flesh-eating Bacteria"), our friends across town at American Medical News were covering the real war against the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause necrotizing fasciitis and other troublesome healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs). Research and development of new antibiotics has stalled. And the prudent use of available drugs has become the new focus of educational efforts spearheaded by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Particularly sobering are the words of IDSA president James M. Hughes, MD: "The way we've managed our antibiotics for the past 70 years has failed." Click here to read the full article. Again we are comforted to know that hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers at least one nonpharmaceutical backstop against a runaway public health calamity. Surely we need more alternatives.

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.