Allen-Brady, Kristina, Fyer, Abby J, Weissman, Myrna · Psychological medicine · 2023 · DOI
This study found that interstitial cystitis (a chronic bladder pain condition) and several other conditions—including ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and panic disorder—tend to run in families. Researchers looked at medical records and family trees of over a century of people in Utah to see if relatives of patients with these conditions had higher rates of the same or related conditions. They discovered that these six conditions share something in common genetically, meaning a family history of any one of them may increase the risk of developing others.
This study provides evidence that ME/CFS shares a common genetic or heritable basis with other pain conditions and psychiatric disorders, which may explain why ME/CFS patients so often experience multiple overlapping conditions. Understanding these shared biological pathways could lead to improved screening, prevention strategies, and treatments targeting the underlying mechanisms rather than individual symptoms. For patients, it validates that these co-occurring conditions are interconnected at a biological level, not simply coincidental.
This study does not identify the specific genes or biological mechanisms responsible for these shared heritable factors. It cannot prove that genetics alone causes these conditions—environmental factors, gene-environment interactions, and other unmeasured variables likely play important roles. The study also cannot explain why some relatives develop these conditions while others with the same family history do not.
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
Allen-Brady, Kristina, Fyer, Abby J, & Weissman, Myrna (2023). The multi-generational familial aggregation of interstitial cystitis, other chronic nociplastic pain disorders, depression, and panic disorder.. Psychological medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291723001885
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-allen-brady-2023-multi-generational,
author = {Allen-Brady, Kristina and Fyer, Abby J and Weissman, Myrna},
title = {The multi-generational familial aggregation of interstitial cystitis, other chronic nociplastic pain disorders, depression, and panic disorder.},
journal = {Psychological medicine},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1017/S0033291723001885},
note = {PubMed: 37458197},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/allen-brady-2023-multi-generational},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/allen-brady-2023-multi-generational
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.