Announcing OMF's First ME/CFS Clinical Trial!

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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia Leading Research. Delivering Hope.Open Medicine Foundation® Canada

Driving research of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS),
Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia and Long COVID.

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Spring Into Action: Join the Hope Builders Community!

Step into spring as a Hope Builder! With the arrival of a season that symbolizes renewal and progress, we at Open Medicine Foundation Canada are inspired by the strength of those living with ME/CFS and Long COVID. This season of new beginnings is the perfect opportunity to step up and make a difference.

 

Become a Hope Builder! You will join a special group of dedicated supporters who contribute monthly. Your donation provides a steady foundation for groundbreaking research and support programs. 

 

Today, we are honored to share with you an inspiring story from one of our dedicated Hope Builders. Meet Helen, a cherished member of our Hope Builders community. Helen is an OMF supporter and the mother of Manon, who at the age of 33, faced an unexpected life detour due to ME/CFS. Her narrative mirrors the journey of many families we stand alongside.

 

We Live in Hope: Manon’s Story

 

A collage of three pictures of Manon and her partner, Hugo. The first picture is in the gallery, the second in front of the Sydney Opera House, and the third in a park.

“My amazing 33-year-old daughter, Manon, has been battling ME/CFS since 2015. Discovering OMF was the first time in all our investigations into this devastating illness that we felt there was genuine hope. 

 

Manon’s initial three years were horrific. She had recently graduated from Edinburgh University. She was in Hong Kong for her first job with her partner, Hugo, when ME/CFS struck suddenly and ruthlessly. We had no choice but to bring her home. She could neither walk nor sit for two years. Engaging in conversation was nearly impossible. We battled the BPS group of psychiatrists in London, desperate to prove it was all in her head. 

 

With patience, her partner and our family provided support and the space for Manon to explore various avenues of recovery. Mestinon proved crucial then and continues to be so to this day. The introduction of a wheelchair became critical. 

 

Despite her disability, Manon has found a way to work part-time from home. Her partner does everything for her to give her the headspace to flourish at work. As time has passed — nearly ten years for her — we’ve learned to distance ourselves from constantly looking at research papers and attending conferences on ME/CFS. 

 

Hope is a challenge, and I hope our trust in OMFCA will bear its fruits! That’s why I am calling on the OMFCA community to join me in becoming a Hope Builder.”

 

Become a Hope Builder

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Microvesicles and viral sequencing
Microvesicles are a type of extracellular vesicle that is released from the cell membrane. Vesicles are small, fluid-filled sacs or vacuoles within the body. Sequencing is a technique used to determine the exact sequence of bases (A, C, G, and T) in a DNA (or viral) molecule.
NMR Metabolomics
NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is an instrument/tool used to perform metabolic studies, metabolic profiling, and metabolomics in biofluids and tissues for more than 40 years using magnetic fields. There is a very close connection between metabolic measurements and NMR. This connection has flourished because of NMR’s many unique strengths for characterizing complex mixtures’ chemical composition.
Proteomics
The large-scale study of proteins, which are large, complex molecules that are required for structure, function, and regulation of the human body's tissues and organs.
Immune cell profiling
The immune system has many important regulatory roles in disease development and progression. Given the emergence of effective immune therapies, reliable predictors of response are needed. Immune cell profiling determines response by evaluating immune cell populations from treated and untreated samples. For our purposes, we will evaluate the white blood cell response to the viral infection using a process called “Cytof.”
Leukocyte Genomics
A leukocyte is a colorless cell circulating in the blood and body fluids and is involved in counteracting foreign substances and disease. A genome is all genetic material of an organism. Genomics is a biology field focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. Therefore, leukocyte genomics is the study of all genetic material of leukocytes.
Metabolomics
Metabolomics is a way to study metabolism – that is, through measuring amounts of the metabolites (small molecules) produced by our bodies as we convert food into energy and other molecules that our cells need to survive. Metabolomics technology is ‘large-scale,’ meaning that several thousand metabolites can be measured from a single sample of e.g., blood or urine.
Micro RNA
Cells use Micro RNA to control whether a particular gene is making too much, too little or the normal amount of its protein at a particular time.
Autoantibodies
Antibodies that react with self-molecules and that occur in healthy individuals and are referred to as natural antibodies or autoantibodies.
Extracellular DNA for viral reactivation and Mitochondrial DNA
exDNA (extracellular DNA), exDNA is often secreted actively and is used to perform several tasks, thereby offering an attractive target or tool for biotechnological, medical, environmental, and general microbiological applications. Viruses are intracellular parasites that rely to a significant extent on the host cell for replication. Viral reactivation occurs when an active replication of the viral genome results in a lytic (degradation of the cell) infection characterized by the release of new progeny (descendant) virus particles.