Huhmar, Helena M, Soinne, Lauri S, Bertilson, Bo Christer et al. · Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists · 2025 · DOI
This study found that most people with ME/CFS have abnormally low levels of vasopressin, a hormone that helps your body control water balance and blood volume. The researchers measured this hormone and fluid markers in over 100 ME/CFS patients and discovered that 82% had vasopressin levels below the detectable range. This may help explain why many ME/CFS patients experience excessive thirst, frequent urination, and dizziness when standing up.
This study provides a potential biochemical explanation for several hallmark ME/CFS symptoms, particularly orthostatic intolerance and polyuria-polydipsia, which are poorly understood. Identifying vasopressin dysregulation as a measurable disease mechanism could lead to better diagnostic approaches and targeted interventions for managing these debilitating symptoms.
This study does not prove that low vasopressin causes ME/CFS or that treating vasopressin levels will improve symptoms—it demonstrates an association in a cross-sectional snapshot. The study cannot establish whether vasopressin dysregulation is a primary driver of disease or a secondary consequence of ME/CFS pathology. Long-term follow-up and intervention studies would be needed to clarify causality and clinical utility.
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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