Li, Bin-Bin, Feng, Chu-Wen, Qu, Yuan-Yuan et al. · World journal of acupuncture-moxibustion · 2023 · DOI
This review examined how ME/CFS affects the brain and nervous system by looking at laboratory tests and brain imaging studies. Researchers found that people with ME/CFS have changes in brain structure, abnormal inflammation, and problems with chemical messengers in the brain. The study also explored how acupuncture might help correct some of these brain abnormalities in animal models of the condition.
Understanding the central mechanisms underlying ME/CFS is crucial for developing targeted treatments. This review consolidates evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable brain dysfunction, strengthening the case for recognizing it as a biological neurological disorder rather than a psychological condition, and identifies potential mechanisms through which acupuncture or other interventions could be therapeutic.
This review does not establish that acupuncture is clinically effective for ME/CFS in patients—it primarily discusses animal model studies and mechanistic possibilities. It does not prove that the observed brain changes cause fatigue symptoms versus representing correlates of the disease. The findings also do not exclude the possibility that some abnormalities are secondary consequences rather than primary drivers of 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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