Eriksen, Thor Eirik, Risør, Mette Bech · Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2014 · DOI
This paper explores what we actually mean by the word 'symptom' in medicine. The authors argue that when doctors can't find a clear medical cause for illness—like ME/CFS—our usual way of thinking about symptoms breaks down. They suggest we need to understand symptoms in broader ways, including how patients' social lives, personal experiences, and individual circumstances shape how they experience illness.
This theoretical work addresses a fundamental problem in ME/CFS research and clinical care: the inadequacy of conventional medical language and concepts for understanding patient experience when no clear biological marker exists. By reconceptualizing symptoms beyond pure biomedicine, the paper provides philosophical grounding for more patient-centered, multidimensional approaches to diagnosis and management of ME/CFS.
This is a conceptual/philosophical analysis, not an empirical study with data, so it does not prove any biological mechanisms, validate specific biomarkers, or establish causation between any variables. It does not provide evidence about the prevalence, etiology, or optimal treatment of ME/CFS specifically.
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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