Matsumoto, Y, Ninomiya, S · Arerugi = [Allergy] · 1992
This study looked at allergies in 18 Japanese patients with ME/CFS and found that 78% had allergies either before or after developing ME/CFS. Most allergies involved skin reactions or drug allergies. Interestingly, allergies that existed before ME/CFS often improved once the illness developed, but ME/CFS symptoms got worse when allergies were present.
Understanding the relationship between allergies and ME/CFS is important because allergies are common in this patient population and may influence symptom severity. This study suggests that managing allergies could be relevant to overall ME/CFS management, though more research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms.
This study does not establish that allergies cause ME/CFS or vice versa—only that they frequently co-occur. The lack of immune system differences between allergic and non-allergic ME/CFS patients does not rule out immune involvement in either condition; it only shows that standard immunologic markers did not distinguish these groups. The small sample size and single-country population 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
Matsumoto, Y & Ninomiya, S (1992). [Allergy among Japanese patients with chronic fatigue syndrome].. Arerugi = [Allergy]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1290417/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-matsumoto-1992-allergy-among,
author = {Matsumoto, Y and Ninomiya, S},
title = {[Allergy among Japanese patients with chronic fatigue syndrome].},
journal = {Arerugi = [Allergy]},
year = {1992},
note = {PubMed: 1290417},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/matsumoto-1992-allergy-among},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/matsumoto-1992-allergy-among
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.