Lopez-Majano, Denise · Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2020 · DOI
This study shares the real-life story of two siblings who both have ME and other health conditions. It explains how ME makes it very difficult to treat other illnesses they have, because ME symptoms can get worse with standard medical treatments. The study highlights why doctors need to understand how ME affects daily life so they can help treat other conditions without making ME worse.
This study highlights a critical clinical gap: people with ME often cannot tolerate standard treatments for their other conditions because those treatments can worsen ME symptoms. Understanding these real-world challenges from patient and family perspectives is essential for developing ME-informed care protocols that safely address comorbidities without causing harm.
This case study cannot establish the prevalence or frequency of treatment-related complications across ME populations, nor can it prove causation between specific interventions and symptom exacerbation. The findings from one family cannot be generalized to all people with ME, and individual responses to treatment vary considerably.
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
Lopez-Majano, Denise (2020). Impact of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis on treatment of comorbidities: A lived experience.. Work (Reading, Mass.). https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-203175
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lopez-majano-2020-impact-myalgic,
author = {Lopez-Majano, Denise},
title = {Impact of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis on treatment of comorbidities: A lived experience.},
journal = {Work (Reading, Mass.)},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3233/WOR-203175},
note = {PubMed: 32568150},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lopez-majano-2020-impact-myalgic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lopez-majano-2020-impact-myalgic
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