This is an article of a paper that is yet to be published. View here. There is much more to the article, discusses a trial with growth hormone. BIAFAC stands for brain injury associated fatigue and altered cognition. It makes me wonder, how many of us had a genuine concussion prior to getting sick? I got one maybe 6-7 years prior to getting sick. While the CT scan showed no injury, i had over 9 months of headaches. I was hit by a car while i was riding my bike. I went over the hood and cracked my helmet.
It's interesting. They seem to be suggesting that the TBI causes intestinal dysfunction and changes in nutrient utilisation (along with changes in fecal bacterial communities). And this causes changes in hormonal patterns, specifically a long term reduction in growth hormone. They claim that most TBI patients experience dramatic symptom relief with growth hormone replacement therapy. Which may all be right. But the studies discussed in the article don't prove that. So they didn't take just any TBI patients. They took TBI patients with 'inadequate GH secretion' and found that GH replacement therapy helped. Which is not surprising. . And this study might just be reflecting the quality of food in this single long-term care facility.
"...these symptoms can manifest months to years after the initial injury and as this cluster of symptoms hasn’t been previously grouped together, it often goes unidentified in the medical community." Slight aside...I just published an interview with a woman who had 100+ ECT (aka shock therapy, where they zap the brain into seizure) - she said research shows electrical injury effects manifest in the brain 2 - 10 years after ECT (and ECT is not regulated or standardized). For her, symptoms showed about 7 years after she stopped ECT (against psychiatrists' advice). (Spoiler: turns out her psychiatric symptoms were a result of ammonia and other toxins 'marinating' her brain. Once that was addressed, the years of 24 / 7 voices telling her to kill herself disappeared.)
Surely it should be obvious that Traumatic Brain Injury will often damage the hypothalamus and the pituitary. These two organs are responsible for controlling the release of or actually releasing a huge number of hormones that affect the entire body. This isn't new "news".
FWIW, i added TBI on the software framework i am using. It receives a high ranking for its relevance to ME/CFS symptoms : The system suggests that the proposed mechanism may involve glutamate metabolism. More importantly : TBI can affect the Liver and Bile acid metabolism Some excerpts :
Hi I wondered do you have a link to this story Spoiler: turns out her psychiatric symptoms were a result of ammonia and other toxins 'marinating' her brain. Once that was addressed, the years of 24 / 7 voices telling her to kill herself disappeared.)