Bozzini, Sara, Albergati, Andrea, Capelli, Enrica et al. · Biomedical reports · 2018 · DOI
This study looked at heart and blood pressure problems in people with ME/CFS. Researchers found that patients with ME/CFS tend to have lower blood pressure than expected, which may explain some common symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. Most other heart measurements were similar between people with and without ME/CFS.
Low blood pressure and orthostatic intolerance are poorly understood but clinically significant features of ME/CFS that contribute substantially to disability. Identifying this cardiovascular pattern helps validate patient symptoms and may guide development of targeted interventions, while also highlighting the importance of blood pressure assessment in clinical ME/CFS evaluation.
This study does not prove that low blood pressure *causes* ME/CFS or that correcting blood pressure will resolve the disease. As an observational study, it cannot establish causation, only association. The findings also cannot be generalized beyond Caucasian populations or explain all ME/CFS symptoms.
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
Bozzini, Sara, Albergati, Andrea, Capelli, Enrica, Lorusso, Lorenzo, Gazzaruso, Carmine, Pelissero, Gabriele, et al. (2018). Cardiovascular characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome.. Biomedical reports. https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2017.1024
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bozzini-2018-cardiovascular-characteristics,
author = {Bozzini, Sara and Albergati, Andrea and Capelli, Enrica and Lorusso, Lorenzo and Gazzaruso, Carmine and Pelissero, Gabriele and Falcone, Colomba},
title = {Cardiovascular characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Biomedical reports},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.3892/br.2017.1024},
note = {PubMed: 29399336},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bozzini-2018-cardiovascular-characteristics},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bozzini-2018-cardiovascular-characteristics
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