A research team including Professor Simon Carding – who is currently working on a project funded by ME Research UK, has published an article reviewing evidence on relationship between infection, inflammation, and cognitive dysfunction – brain fog, in people with ME/CFS.
The researchers state that in ME/CFS, brain fog may be a result of ongoing low-grade inflammation associated with raised levels of specific chemicals in the body that cause an inflammatory response (pro-inflammatory cytokines).
The team also acknowledge that dysregulation of the immune system may be a contributing factor, either through subtle immunodeficiency – where the immune system’s ability to fight off infection is compromised, or through autoimmunity where the immune system targets the body’s own cells – in this instance receptors in the brain.
Notably, six key factors are identified by the review as important in cognitive dysfunction in ME/CFS, these are:
- Immune dysfunction
- Viral reactivation
- Muscle dysfunction
- Dysfunction of the endocrine system responsible for creating and regulating hormones – chemical messengers, in the body
- Stress – physical, mental emotional, infective and chemical
- Disturbed sleep
The researchers conclude:
“Memory, attention, and cognition may be impaired (in people with ME/CFS) because of peripheral inflammation and viral and bacterial infection.”
Efforts to reduce low-grade inflammation and viral reactivation and to improve energy generation in the powerhouses of the body (mitochondria) in people with ME/CFS have the potential to improve cognitive dysfunction. Improved sleep may have also have a beneficial effect on memory in people with ME/CFS but more research is needed.
