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The Atlantic: The Puzzling Virus (EBV) That Infects Almost Everyone

Discussion in 'Other health news and research' started by rvallee, Mar 3, 2022.

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  1. rvallee

    rvallee Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/03/epstein-barr-virus-mono-cancer-research/623881/
    (Could be paywalled, it worked for me)

    Over the years, more hints of EBV’s unusual abilities started appearing. The virus or the antibodies to it seemed to be disproportionately found in people suffering from autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis as well as those suffering from chronic fatigue. These chronic conditions, whose biological mechanisms are even more elusive than cancer’s, are particularly hard to study. While the correlations between EBV and these disorders were suggestive, they were in no way definitive. People who have these conditions might almost all have EBV, but then almost all healthy people have EBV too. “That’s not a very good place to start doing epidemiology, when you have 95 percent in the control group,” says Paul Farrell, an EBV researcher at Imperial College London.


    Sharing because discussion and research over EBV will only increase with time and attitudes are slowly changing, as people get around to the underlying ideas that infectious diseases aren't just hit-and-run things with only two possible outcomes: death and full recovery.

    I thought it was interesting especially because of the title, and how it reminded me of a video I saw recently about Barry Marshall, who has been working further over the last few years on the role of H. Pylori, and how even though it can cause peptic ulcers (which he and his team discovered) and cancers in some people, it appears to be protective for most people, possibly playing a major role in GI-related chronic illnesses.

    Basically it seems that the old formula where only the virus matters, not the host (other than "pre-existing conditions"), is slowly dying. It's impossible to explain why only some people get mono from EBV, Long Covid from SARS-CoV-2 or peptic ulcers from H. Pylori while most seem to not suffer anything using current theory, it's a huge gap.
     
  2. DokaGirl

    DokaGirl Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I tested positive for EBV for an extended period of time.

    It seemed to me this was the active form. I believe tests can show the difference. But, I could be mistaken. :thumbsdown:

    ETA: deleted "to", added "for".
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2022
    alktipping and Peter Trewhitt like this.

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