Li, Jinxia, Xie, Jingjun, Pan, Zhongqiang et al. · Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion · 2017 · DOI
Researchers tested a treatment called transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS)—a non-invasive electrical stimulation applied to specific acupuncture points on the body—in 89 people with ME/CFS. After 4 weeks of daily treatment, the group receiving real TEAS showed significant improvements in fatigue and overall symptoms, while the group receiving sham (fake) TEAS did not improve. The treatment was well-tolerated with no reported side effects.
ME/CFS patients have limited safe treatment options, and this study offers preliminary evidence that TEAS may reduce fatigue and related symptoms without adverse effects. If reproducible in larger, longer-term studies, TEAS could provide a non-pharmacological intervention option for symptomatic management in ME/CFS.
This study does not establish whether TEAS effects persist beyond 4 weeks or whether improvements are sustained long-term. It does not identify the underlying mechanism by which TEAS might reduce fatigue, nor does it prove TEAS is universally effective across ME/CFS patient subgroups. The small sample size and single-center design limit generalizability.
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
Li, Jinxia, Xie, Jingjun, Pan, Zhongqiang, Guo, Xiaoqing, Li, Ye, & Fu, Ruiyang (2017). [Chronic fatigue syndrome treated with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a randomized controlled trial].. Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion. https://doi.org/10.13703/j.0255-2930.2017.12.006
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-li-2017-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Li, Jinxia and Xie, Jingjun and Pan, Zhongqiang and Guo, Xiaoqing and Li, Ye and Fu, Ruiyang},
title = {[Chronic fatigue syndrome treated with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a randomized controlled trial].},
journal = {Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.13703/j.0255-2930.2017.12.006},
note = {PubMed: 29354991},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2017-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2017-chronic-fatigue
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