Kuratsune, Hirohiko · Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine · 2007
This review examines ME/CFS as a real medical condition affecting the nervous system, immune system, and stress response. While researchers have found many different abnormalities in ME/CFS patients—including viral reactivation, immune problems, and chemical imbalances in the brain—no single cause has been identified in everyone with the condition. The authors suggest that ME/CFS likely results from a combination of genetic factors and life stress that disrupts how the body's immune and hormone systems work together.
This review provides an important synthesis linking immune dysfunction, hormonal abnormalities, and brain changes in ME/CFS, which helps validate the condition as biologically real rather than purely psychological. Understanding ME/CFS as a multisystem disorder involving neuro-immune-endocrine pathways can shift clinical perspectives and encourage investigation of mechanism-based treatments rather than dismissing patients' symptoms.
This review does not establish a single definitive cause for ME/CFS, nor does it prove causation versus correlation for any proposed mechanism. The article does not provide new primary data or clinical trial evidence; it synthesizes existing literature and cannot determine which abnormalities are primary drivers versus secondary consequences of the illness.
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
Kuratsune, Hirohiko (2007). [Overview of chronic fatigue syndrome focusing on prevalence and diagnostic criteria].. Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17561686/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kuratsune-2007-overview-chronic,
author = {Kuratsune, Hirohiko},
title = {[Overview of chronic fatigue syndrome focusing on prevalence and diagnostic criteria].},
journal = {Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine},
year = {2007},
note = {PubMed: 17561686},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kuratsune-2007-overview-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kuratsune-2007-overview-chronic
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