Nakatomi, Yasuhito, Kuratsune, Hirohiko, Watanabe, Yasuyoshi · Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyu no shinpo · 2018 · DOI
Researchers used a special imaging scan called PET to look at the brains of people with ME/CFS and found signs of inflammation (immune system activation) throughout several brain regions. This inflammation was connected to how severe patients' symptoms were, including problems with thinking and memory, as well as widespread pain. This discovery suggests that ME/CFS involves measurable changes in the brain that could eventually lead to better ways to diagnose and treat the condition.
This research provides objective neurobiological evidence for ME/CFS—demonstrating that the condition involves measurable physical changes in the brain rather than being purely psychological. For patients, these findings validate that their symptoms have a biological basis and could accelerate development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments based on reducing neuroinflammation.
This study does not prove that neuroinflammation is the sole cause of ME/CFS or establish whether inflammation is primary or secondary to other disease processes. It shows correlation between inflammation and symptom severity but does not determine causation or whether treating inflammation would resolve symptoms. The study also does not establish whether these inflammatory changes persist long-term or how they develop.
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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