Review Inflammatory Markers in Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic Disorders: A Systematic Review 2024 Hansen et al

Abstract

Functional somatic disorders (FSDs) are common in children and adolescents. Recent findings suggest that low-grade inflammation has a role in the development and maintenance of pediatric FSDs. This systematic review included studies with original data on systemic inflammatory markers in children and adolescents with an FSD compared to individuals without an FSD. The literature search identified 1374 articles. After assessment, a total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. In total, 41 serum or plasma cytokines were assayed in a population of 696 children and adolescents. Altered cytokine levels in patients with FSDs were reported in 12 studies, whereas three studies found no significant differences when comparing patients with FSDs and controls. The cytokine levels were significantly elevated in nine studies (i.e., IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12 (p70), CRP, hsCRP, IP-10, MCP-1, sTIM-3, sCD25 and TNF-).

The findings indicate that inflammatory response may have a role in the pathophysiology of pediatric FSDs. However, the included studies showed limited quality with potential risk of bias, small study populations and a narrow spectrum of included FSDs, which limits the generalizability of the results. To further explore the potential link between inflammatory markers and pediatric FSDs, future research using a longitudinal study design is recommended.

Open access, https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/5/549

 

We're definitely going to see a "it's not inflammation, there is no evidence of inflammation, viruses can't do that, this isn't immunological it's psychological" to "we've always known it was inflammation, anxiety and depression can cause inflammation, so can viruses but once they're gone it's maintained by thoughts, all immunology is psychology" phase, are we?

As I said recently, I saw some comments from pwLC mentioning how they've been told that LC is psychosomatic and that means their central nervous system is dysfunctional, i.e. dysautonomia. Basically the meaning of psychosomatic is being moved around to fit with the entire base narrative having been debunked, so that it can fit snugly on the next turtle down.

All the old claims will be turned upside down to add the immune system in there, with thoughts and beliefs making most of the work. We can even see it in general around depression, it's more and more being framed as being inflammatory, where, yes the immune system is misbehaving, and yes it may be caused by pathogens, but no the pathogens don't matter anymore.

Which is basically the tiniest possible shift, as this is largely the same thing, but instead of disputing the immune component that is being revealed as being critical, it instead incorporates it as providing the explanation, through thoughts and beliefs. Which reveals decades of lives but continues them anyway. Because nothing matters here, only power.

So it's going to be something like "it's inflammation that doesn't cause damage, just behavioral change, even more so if the patient believes there is irreparable damage" to "yes, there is evidence of a little bit of damage but it's coincidental" to "yes, with better imaging we can see widespread damage but psychosocial factors still matter more because of questionnaires that use overlapping questions" to "the damage is definitely linked to symptoms but symptoms can be maintained by psychosocial factors, as we've always said" and so on and on until the very last minute where it's all made irrelevant.