Treatment

<p >If microglial activation is a factor in ME/CFS, then&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2014/05/29/microglial-inhibiting-drugs-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-mecfs/" target="_blank" >it could be treatable</a>&nbsp;— one reason there is so much interest in this line of research.

Perry and Younger pointed to the potential of&nbsp;<a href="http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/brain-cells-making-us-sick-the-microglia-connection-in-me-cfs-fibromyalgia.30605/page-2#post-468439" target="blank" >microglial inhibitor drugs</a>&nbsp;to calm down the overactive cells or prevent activation in the first place. No microglial inhibitors have been proven to treat ME/CFS or fibromyalgia, but Younger has already run an intriguing&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23359310" target="blank" >small study of low-dose naltrexone (LDN)</a>&nbsp;for fibromyalgia with encouraging results.

The exact mechanism for LDN is uncertain, but Younger has pointed to evidence that at the low doses used naltrexone’s main role is probably to inhibit activation of microglia. Other drugs have been shown to inhibit microglial activation in animals, but not yet in humans.</p>