Brinth, Louise, Nielsen, Henrik, Varming, Kim et al. · Ugeskrift for laeger · 2019
ME/CFS is a serious condition that causes extreme tiredness affecting both mind and body, along with pain, sleep problems, difficulty thinking clearly, and a symptom called post-exertional malaise where activity makes symptoms worse. Research has found changes in patients' cells, hormones, immune systems, and how their bodies process energy, which could lead to better ways to diagnose and treat this condition.
This review provides a comprehensive overview of biological mechanisms underlying ME/CFS, moving beyond the perception that the condition is purely psychological. Identifying objective biological markers could improve diagnosis and validate patients' experiences while opening pathways to mechanism-based treatments rather than symptomatic management alone.
As a review article, this study does not present new primary data and therefore does not prove causation for any specific biological abnormality. It also does not establish which biological findings are primary disease mechanisms versus secondary consequences of prolonged illness. The review cannot determine whether identified perturbations are unique to ME/CFS or shared with other conditions.
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 →
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