Myhill, Sarah, Booth, Norman E, McLaren-Howard, John · International journal of clinical and experimental medicine · 2013
This study looked at 138 ME/CFS patients and found that all of them had problems with their mitochondria—the parts of cells that produce energy. Patients received personalized treatment based on diet, sleep, supplements, and rest-activity balance, adjusted according to their specific mitochondrial problems. Those who followed the full treatment plan improved their mitochondrial function by about four times on average.
This research provides evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction is present across ME/CFS populations and suggests that targeted interventions addressing energy metabolism may produce measurable biochemical improvements. The finding that treatment adherence correlates with mitochondrial recovery offers practical insights for patients considering lifestyle and supplementation strategies.
This study does not establish causation—it cannot prove that improving mitochondrial function causes symptom improvement or recovers ME/CFS. The lack of a control group, unblinded design, and small high-adherence subgroup (n=30) limit generalizability. It does not demonstrate that ATP Profile-guided treatment is superior to other approaches or that improvements translate to functional recovery.
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
Myhill, Sarah, Booth, Norman E, & McLaren-Howard, John (2013). Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in the treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) - a clinical audit.. International journal of clinical and experimental medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23236553/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-myhill-2013-targeting-mitochondrial,
author = {Myhill, Sarah and Booth, Norman E and McLaren-Howard, John},
title = {Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in the treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) - a clinical audit.},
journal = {International journal of clinical and experimental medicine},
year = {2013},
note = {PubMed: 23236553},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/myhill-2013-targeting-mitochondrial},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/myhill-2013-targeting-mitochondrial
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.