Michael VanElzakker

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Source: tufts.edu

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]

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.

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

  • 2021, Corrigendum: Neuroinflammation and Cytokines in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): A Critical Review of Research Methods[3] - (Full text)
  • 2021, Long COVID or Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC): An Overview of Biological Factors That May Contribute to Persistent Symptoms[4] - (Full text)
  • 2019, Neuroinflammation and cytokines in myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): A critical review of research methods[5] - (Full text)
  • 2013, Chronic fatigue syndrome from vagus nerve infection: A psychoneuroimmunological hypothesis[1] - (Full text)

Talks and interviews[edit | edit source]

"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]

Quotes[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]
  • "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]

Sex 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]
Glial contributions to visceral pain: implications for disease etiology and the female predominance of persistent pain[17]
  • "Sex differences in #MECFS could be explained by sex differences in glial cell & vagus nerve function." #VNIH.[18][17]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 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.
  2. Tuller, David (February 10, 2016). "An open letter to The Lancet, again". Virology blog. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  3. VanElzakker, Michael B.; Brumfield, Sydney A.; Lara Mejia, Paula S. (2020). "Corrigendum: Neuroinflammation and Cytokines in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): A Critical Review of Research Methods". Frontiers in Neurology. 11: 863. doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00863/full. ISSN 1664-2295. PMID 33041960.
  4. Proal, Amy D.; VanElzakker, Michael B. (2021). "Long COVID or Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC): An Overview of Biological Factors That May Contribute to Persistent Symptoms". Frontiers in Microbiology. 12: 698169. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.698169. ISSN 1664-302X. PMID 3304196.
  5. 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. 9: 1033. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.01033.
  6. 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.
  7. Ykelenstam, Yasmina (December 8, 2015). "Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Michael Van ElZakker: chronic fatigue vagus nerve link". Healing Histamine. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  8. Ykelenstam, Yasmina (December 7, 2015). "Yasmina Ykelenstam's Healing Histamine Podcast: Chronic Fatigue from Vagus Nerve Infection: A Psychoneuroimmunological Hypothesis". Yasmina Ykelenstam's Healing Histamine Podcast. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  9. Selzer, Jaime (December 12, 2016). "Dr VanElzakker: two new ME/CFS studies at Harvard - #MEAction". #MEAction. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  10. Proal, Amy (December 7, 2017). "Interview with neuroscientist Michael VanElzakker: Vagus Nerve, ME/CFS, latent infection and more". Microbe Minded. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  11. King, Llewellyn (March 30, 2018). "ME/CFS Research with Michael VanElzakker, Vagus Nerve, triggers | ME/CFS Alert Episode 97". YouTube.
  12. "IIMEC14 14th Invest in ME Reseaerch International ME Conference 2019". Invest in ME Research. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  13. Michael VanElzakker [@MBvanelzakker] (August 17, 2016). "Subjective measures of sick people before & after they are repeatedly told, "You're not sick" is a social psych study, not a clinical trial" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. Michael VanElzakker [@MBVanElzakker] (August 16, 2016). "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.'" (Tweet). Retrieved October 14, 2018 – via Twitter.
  15. Michael VanElzakker [@MBVanElzakker] (April 8, 2014). "The germ is nothing; the terrain is everything. - Louis Pasteur" (Tweet). Retrieved October 14, 2018 – via Twitter.
  16. Michael VanElzakker [@MBVanElzakker] (September 13, 2016). "I've always seen glial cell action in neuropathic pain as a model for #VNIH. This paper elucidates sex differences" (Tweet). Retrieved October 14, 2018 – via Twitter.
  17. 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). nature.com.
  18. Michael VanElzakker [@MBVanElzakker] (September 15, 2016). "Sex differences in #MECFS could be explained by sex differences in glial cell & vagus nerve function" (Tweet). Retrieved October 14, 2018 – via Twitter.