Lillestøl, Kristine, Bondevik, Hilde · Tidsskrift for den Norske laegeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny raekke · 2013 · DOI
This study looked at historical medical records from Norway between 1880 and 1920 to understand how doctors understood and treated a condition called neurasthenia, which many believe was similar to today's ME/CFS. Doctors at that time described it as a weakness of the nervous system with exhaustion as the main symptom, though they couldn't find any physical cause. Treatment focused on rest and electrical therapy to strengthen the nerves.
Understanding how neurasthenia was historically understood helps contextualize modern debates about ME/CFS's legitimacy and etiology. This study shows that symptom-based conditions without clear biological markers have long been recognized and treated by physicians, providing historical precedent for contemporary recognition of ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that historical neurasthenia and modern ME/CFS are the same condition, only that parallels exist. It also does not establish what neurasthenia actually was biologically, nor does it validate any particular theory about causes or prognosis for either condition.
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
Lillestøl, Kristine & Bondevik, Hilde (2013). [Neurasthenia in Norway 1880-1920].. Tidsskrift for den Norske laegeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny raekke. https://doi.org/10.4045/tidsskr.12.1221
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lillestl-2013-neurasthenia-norway,
author = {Lillestøl, Kristine and Bondevik, Hilde},
title = {[Neurasthenia in Norway 1880-1920].},
journal = {Tidsskrift for den Norske laegeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny raekke},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.4045/tidsskr.12.1221},
note = {PubMed: 23552163},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lillestl-2013-neurasthenia-norway},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lillestl-2013-neurasthenia-norway
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