Ahn, SoYoung, Jamrasi, Parivash, Lim, Byunggul et al. · Integrative medicine research · 2024 · DOI
This study tested whether a herbal supplement made from deer antler, angelica root, and astragalus could reduce fatigue in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Over 8 weeks, 80 patients took either the herbal mixture or a placebo, and researchers measured their fatigue levels and exercise capacity. The herbal supplement group showed meaningful improvements in fatigue symptoms and could exercise longer before exhaustion compared to the placebo group.
ME/CFS remains poorly understood and lacks FDA-approved pharmacological treatments, making investigation of adjunctive interventions important for patients seeking symptom management. This rigorous placebo-controlled trial provides evidence that herbal supplements warrant further investigation as potential therapeutic options, particularly for working-age populations where fatigue has substantial quality-of-life impact.
This study does not prove the herbal supplement is universally effective for all ME/CFS patients or works through specific biological mechanisms—only that it outperformed placebo on tested measures. The findings cannot establish causation of fatigue improvement or identify which component(s) of the three-herb mixture contributed to benefits. Long-term safety and sustainability of effects remain unknown, and results may not generalize to different populations or disease phenotypes.
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
Ahn, SoYoung, Jamrasi, Parivash, Lim, Byunggul, Seo, Ji-Won, Li, Xinxing, Jiang, Shu, et al. (2024). Herbal extract (<i>Cervus elaphus</i> Linnaeus, <i>Angelica gigas</i> Nakai, and <i>Astragalus membranaceus</i> Bunge) ameliorates chronic fatigue: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.. Integrative medicine research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imr.2024.101085
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-ahn-2024-herbal-extract,
author = {Ahn, SoYoung and Jamrasi, Parivash and Lim, Byunggul and Seo, Ji-Won and Li, Xinxing and Jiang, Shu and Sung, Yunho and Ahn, Seo Hyun and Shin, Chaeyoung and Noh, Dongjin and Jin, Bora and Lee, Seonjoo and Lee, Ki Won and Kim, Jin Soo and Koo, Young Tae and Song, Wook},
title = {Herbal extract (<i>Cervus elaphus</i> Linnaeus, <i>Angelica gigas</i> Nakai, and <i>Astragalus membranaceus</i> Bunge) ameliorates chronic fatigue: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.},
journal = {Integrative medicine research},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1016/j.imr.2024.101085},
note = {PubMed: 39399821},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ahn-2024-herbal-extract},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ahn-2024-herbal-extract
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