Caminero, Ana, Bartolomé, Manuel · Journal of the neurological sciences · 2011 · DOI
This review examined how often people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience sleep problems and how these problems affect their daily life. The researchers found that sleep disorders are much more common in MS patients than in the general population, and that sleep problems and MS can make each other worse. The review discusses many types of sleep issues including insomnia, restless legs, and sleep apnea, and emphasizes that treating sleep problems should be an important part of caring for MS patients.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS research because it identifies the bidirectional relationship between a neurological disease and sleep disturbances, and importantly, discusses the frequent co-occurrence of chronic fatigue with sleep problems in MS. Understanding how sleep disorders and fatigue interact in other neurological conditions may inform similar investigations in ME/CFS, where sleep disturbance is a cardinal feature and fatigue is the defining symptom.
This review does not establish causation—only that sleep disturbances and MS are associated and may worsen each other. The study focuses on MS, not ME/CFS, so findings cannot be directly generalized to ME/CFS populations without independent validation. The review does not provide new epidemiological data or treatment outcome evidence, only synthesizes existing literature.
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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Primary citation
Caminero, Ana & Bartolomé, Manuel (2011). Sleep disturbances in multiple sclerosis.. Journal of the neurological sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2011.07.015
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-caminero-2011-sleep-disturbances,
author = {Caminero, Ana and Bartolomé, Manuel},
title = {Sleep disturbances in multiple sclerosis.},
journal = {Journal of the neurological sciences},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1016/j.jns.2011.07.015},
note = {PubMed: 21813138},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/caminero-2011-sleep-disturbances},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/caminero-2011-sleep-disturbances
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