Merz, Susanne · Lakartidningen · 2002
This review examines how ME/CFS is defined and diagnosed, and explains that several other medical conditions can look like ME/CFS but are actually different diseases. The authors highlight that many conditions—such as chronic infections, thyroid problems, and allergies—can cause similar symptoms to ME/CFS. They recommend that doctors carefully test patients to find the true cause of their symptoms rather than assuming everyone with severe fatigue has ME/CFS.
This review is important because it highlights a critical clinical problem: patients with other treatable medical conditions may be misdiagnosed with ME/CFS, delaying appropriate treatment. It emphasizes the need for thorough differential diagnosis and coordinated specialist care, which can improve patient outcomes. Understanding that ME/CFS shares symptoms with other diseases helps both clinicians and patients recognize when further investigation is warranted.
This review does not provide data on how frequently these differential diagnoses are missed in clinical practice, nor does it establish the prevalence of misdiagnosis. It does not prove that any particular disease causes ME/CFS symptoms, only that certain conditions can mimic them. The review does not quantify the overlap between ME/CFS and other conditions.
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
Merz, Susanne (2002). [Chronic fatigue syndrome. More and more differential diagnoses suggest a new view of this syndrome].. Lakartidningen. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12362846/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-merz-2002-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Merz, Susanne},
title = {[Chronic fatigue syndrome. More and more differential diagnoses suggest a new view of this syndrome].},
journal = {Lakartidningen},
year = {2002},
note = {PubMed: 12362846},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/merz-2002-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/merz-2002-chronic-fatigue
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