Hirobumi, Ito · Cureus · 2023 · DOI
This study looked at how a throat treatment called epipharyngeal abrasive therapy (EAT) affects the nervous system in ME/CFS patients who also had chronic throat inflammation. Researchers measured heart rate and autonomic nervous system activity in 11 ME/CFS patients and 18 control patients during the procedure. They found that ME/CFS patients had higher resting heart rates and their nervous systems responded differently to the treatment compared to those without ME/CFS.
Autonomic dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a core feature of ME/CFS, and this study contributes objective physiological evidence of dysautonomia in this population. Understanding how ME/CFS patients' nervous systems respond differently to stimulation may inform future treatment approaches and help explain why some patients experience post-exertional malaise.
This study does not prove that EAT is an effective treatment for ME/CFS—it only describes autonomic responses during the procedure in a small group. The observational design cannot establish causation, and the connection between throat inflammation and ME/CFS remains unclear. Long-term clinical outcomes and treatment efficacy are not assessed.
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
Hirobumi, Ito (2023). Autonomic Nervous System Regulation Effects of Epipharyngeal Abrasive Therapy for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Associated With Chronic Epipharyngitis.. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.33777
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hirobumi-2023-autonomic-nervous,
author = {Hirobumi, Ito},
title = {Autonomic Nervous System Regulation Effects of Epipharyngeal Abrasive Therapy for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Associated With Chronic Epipharyngitis.},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.7759/cureus.33777},
note = {PubMed: 36655156},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hirobumi-2023-autonomic-nervous},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hirobumi-2023-autonomic-nervous
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