Michael VanElzakker
From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
Michael VanElzakker, Phd, is a neuroscientist affiliated at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Tufts University. He has two primary research interests: post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). He has proposed a vagus nerve infection hypothesis (VNIH) for ME/CFS.[1][2]
Dr. VanElzakker current research involves performing brain scans on ME/CFS patients and controls and analyzing the differences.
Education and affiliations[edit | edit source]
Education
- Univeristy of Colorado at Boulder - Bachelors's and Master's, Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience
- Tufts University - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Psychology: Psychiatric neuroscience - 2010 to 2015
- Harvard Medical School - Post Doctorate - 2015 to Present
Affiliations
- Neuroendocrinology Lab Manager - University of Colorado August 2004 – May 2010
- Massachusetts General Hospital - 2010 to Present
Open letter to The Lancet[edit | edit source]
Two open letters to the editor of The Lancet urged the editor to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial, which the journal had published in 2011. In 2016, Dr. VanElzakker, along with 41 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter.
- Feb 10, 2016, An open letter to The Lancet, again - Virology blog[3]
Notable studies[edit | edit source]
- 2013, Chronic fatigue syndrome from vagus nerve infection: A psychoneuroimmunological hypothesis[4] - (Full text)
- 2019, Neuroinflammation and cytokines in myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): A critical review of research methods[5] - (Full text)
Talks and interviews[edit | edit source]
- 2014, An Interview with Michael VanElzakker, Phd[6]
- 2015, Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Michael VanElZakker: Chronic fatigue vagus nerve link[7]
- 2015, Podcast interview on Chronic Fatigue from Vagus Nerve Infection[8]
- 2015, Appears in Forgotten Plague explaining his hypothesis
- 2016, Dr VanElzakker: two new ME/CFS studies at Harvard[9] "Everyone here [at Harvard] recognizes that it’s a neuroimmune condition and approaches it that way."–"We don’t have a test yet, therefore it’s psychogenic? That reveals a tragic lack of humility about what we know and what we don’t know."[9]
- 2017, Interview with neuroscientist Michael VanElzakker: Vagus Nerve, ME/CFS, latent infection and more [10]
- Mar 30, 2018, ME/CFS Research with Michael VanElzakker, Vagus Nerve, triggers, ME/CFS Alert Episode 97[11]
- Nov 15, 2018, ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia: The Sexist Truth about "Contested Illnesses" interview by Isabella Rosario
- 31 May 2019, Speaker at the 14th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2019; Speech title - Ongoing study of physiological and fMRI measures before/after symptom provocation by invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing[12] - (Video)
- 8 June 2019, Neurology of ME/CFS: Neuroinflammation imaging, given at the Inaugural Harvard ME/CFS Collaboration Symposium sponsored by Open Medicine Foundation
Quotes[edit | edit source]
Referenced[edit | edit source]
Cognitive behavioral therapy[edit | edit source]
- On the topic of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): "I understand that this is a really charged topic among CFS advocates, and there is a lot of misinformation out there. Just to be clear, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) does not get at the root cause of CFS. CBT offers coping strategies and is not a cure. But I can’t think of a single medical condition that isn’t exacerbated by stress. CFS is no different. Having a chronic illness is stressful and it makes one’s life complicated and there’s a grieving process. CBT is for those parts of the illness. It’s intended to help people solve problems and to challenge dysfunctional patterns. If you’re seeing a CBT practitioner who views CFS as a psychologically-based illness and is approaching your CBT that way, fire them. Find someone else."[6]
Twitter[edit | edit source]
Cognitive behavioral therapy[edit | edit source]
- "Subjective measures of sick people before & after they are repeatedly told, "You're not sick" is a social psych study, not a clinical trial."[13]
- "What #PACEtrial called "CBT" is not normal CBT. Cancer patients see CBT therapists all the time and are not told, 'you're not really sick.'"[14]
Vagus nerve infection hypothesis[edit | edit source]
- Quoting Louis Pasteur in reference to Vagus nerve infection hypothesis: "The germ is nothing; the terrain is everything."[15]
Male and female differences in neuropathic pain[edit | edit source]
- "I've always seen glial cell action in neuropathic pain as a model for #VNIH. This paper elucidates sex differences:"[16]
- "Sex differences in #MECFS could be explained by sex differences in glial cell & vagus nerve function." #VNIH.[18][17]
Online presence[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ VanElzakker, Michael B. (2013). "Chronic fatigue syndrome from vagus nerve infection: a psychoneuroimmunological hypothesis". Medical Hypotheses. 81 (3): 414–423. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2013.05.034. ISSN 1532-2777. PMID 23790471.
- ↑ VanElzakker, Michael (June 23, 2013). "VanElzakker VNIH CFS in press.pdf". PDF Archive. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ Tuller, David (February 10, 2016). "An open letter to The Lancet, again". www.virology.ws. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ VanElzakker, Michael B. "Chronic fatigue syndrome from vagus nerve infection:A psychoneuroimmunological hypothesis". Medical Hypotheses. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ VanElzakker, Michael B.; Brumfield, Sydney A.; Mejia, Paula S. Lara (January 10, 2019). "Neuroinflammation and cytokines in myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): A critical review of research methods". Frontiers in Neurology. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.01033.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Johnson, Cort (February 14, 2014). "Michael VanElzakker Ph.d Talks – About the Vagus Nerve Infection Hypothesis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) - Simmaron Research". Simmaron Research. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ Ykelenstam, Yasmina (December 8, 2015). "Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Michael Van ElZakker: chronic fatigue vagus nerve link | Healing Histamine". Healing Histamine. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ Ykelenstam, Yasmina (December 7, 2015). "Yasmina Ykelenstam's Healing Histamine Podcast: Chronic Fatigue from Vagus Nerve Infection: A Psychoneuroimmunological Hypothesis". thelowhistaminechefpodcast.libsyn.com. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 S, Jaime (December 12, 2016). "Dr VanElzakker: two new ME/CFS studies at Harvard - #MEAction". #MEAction. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ Proal, Amy (December 7, 2017). "Interview with neuroscientist Michael VanElzakker: Vagus Nerve, ME/CFS, latent infection and more | Microbe Minded". microbeminded.com. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ King, Llewellyn (March 30, 2018). "ME/CFS Research with Michael VanElzakker, Vagus Nerve, triggers | ME/CFS Alert Episode 97". YouTube. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ "Invest in ME Research - IIMEC14 14th Invest in ME Reseaerch International ME Conference 2019". www.investinme.org. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ Jenson, Gregory (December 13, 2016). "CFS correspondence on the Department's view of the PACE trial - cais Rhyddid Gwybodaeth i". WhatDoTheyKnow. Dr Michael VanElzakker. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ Van Elzakker, Michael (August 16, 2016). "Michael VanElzakker on Twitter". Twitter. 3:36 PM. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ Van Elzakker, Michael (April 8, 2014). "Michael VanElzakker on Twitter". Twitter. 7:31 AM. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ VanElzakker, Michael (September 13, 2016). "Michael VanElzakker on Twitter". Twitter. 7:31 PM. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ 17.0 17.1 Dodds, KN; Beckett, EAH; Evans, SF; Grace, PM; Watkins, LR; Hutchinson, MR (2016). "Glial contributions to visceral pain: implications for disease etiology and the female predominance of persistent pain" (PDF). www.nature.com. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
|dead-url=(help) - ↑ VanElzakker, Michael (September 15, 2016). "Michael VanElzakker on Twitter". Twitter. 12:43 PM. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter:
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