Moorkens, G, Wynants, H, Abs, R · Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society · 1998 · DOI
This study tested whether growth hormone therapy could help people with ME/CFS who had low growth hormone levels during sleep. Twenty patients received either growth hormone or placebo for 12 weeks, then all remaining patients received growth hormone for 9 more months. While the treatment increased growth hormone-related markers in the blood and increased muscle mass, it did not significantly improve quality of life overall, though four patients were able to return to work.
ME/CFS patients experience profound disability and loss of function; identifying effective treatments is critical. This study addresses the hypothesis that GH deficiency contributes to ME/CFS pathology, which could explain some metabolic and physical symptoms and open new therapeutic avenues if validated in larger trials.
This study does not establish that GH deficiency causes ME/CFS, only that some patients have low GH levels. The absence of significant quality-of-life improvements on standardized measures does not definitively rule out GH therapy's benefit, as the study was small and may have lacked statistical power to detect meaningful clinical change. Return-to-work outcomes cannot be attributed solely to GH without longer follow-up and comparison to natural recovery rates.
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
Moorkens, G, Wynants, H, & Abs, R (1998). Effect of growth hormone treatment in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a preliminary study.. Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1096-6374(98)80037-3
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-moorkens-1998-effect-growth,
author = {Moorkens, G and Wynants, H and Abs, R},
title = {Effect of growth hormone treatment in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a preliminary study.},
journal = {Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society},
year = {1998},
doi = {10.1016/s1096-6374(98)80037-3},
note = {PubMed: 10990148},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/moorkens-1998-effect-growth},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/moorkens-1998-effect-growth
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