Aaron, L A, Burke, M M, Buchwald, D · Archives of internal medicine · 2000 · DOI
This study found that ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) often occur together in the same patients and share similar symptoms like pain, fatigue, and sleep problems. The researchers also discovered that patients with these conditions frequently experience other illnesses like irritable bowel syndrome and headaches—much more often than healthy people do. The study suggests these conditions may be connected in some way we don't yet fully understand.
This study provides early evidence that ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and TMD are not isolated illnesses but rather part of a broader syndrome with overlapping symptoms and frequent coexisting conditions. Understanding these connections may help patients and clinicians recognize and manage multiple conditions simultaneously, and guides future research into shared biological mechanisms that could lead to better treatments.
This cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or temporal relationships—we don't know if one condition causes another, if shared risk factors trigger multiple conditions simultaneously, or what biological pathways connect them. Additionally, the reliance on self-reported past diagnoses may underestimate true prevalence, since patients often receive few formal diagnoses despite meeting symptom criteria. The study also cannot determine whether overlapping symptoms reflect true disease overlap or distinct conditions coinciding by chance.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Aaron, L A, Burke, M M, & Buchwald, D (2000). Overlapping conditions among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and temporomandibular disorder.. Archives of internal medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.160.2.221
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-aaron-2000-overlapping-conditions,
author = {Aaron, L A and Burke, M M and Buchwald, D},
title = {Overlapping conditions among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and temporomandibular disorder.},
journal = {Archives of internal medicine},
year = {2000},
doi = {10.1001/archinte.160.2.221},
note = {PubMed: 10647761},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/aaron-2000-overlapping-conditions},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/aaron-2000-overlapping-conditions
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