Sakudo, Akikazu, Kato, Yukiko Hakariya, Tajima, Seiki et al. · Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry · 2009 · DOI
Researchers used a special light-based scanning tool to examine the thumbs of ME/CFS patients and healthy people, looking for differences in blood and oxygen levels. They found that ME/CFS patients had higher oxygen-carrying proteins in their blood, less water in their tissues, and signs of faster energy use in their cells. These findings suggest that ME/CFS patients' bodies may be working harder than usual, even at rest.
This study provides potential objective biomarkers—measurable physical changes—that could help validate ME/CFS as a physiological condition rather than purely psychological. If confirmed, these spectroscopic markers might eventually assist in diagnosis and help researchers understand why ME/CFS patients experience fatigue despite apparent metabolic hyperactivity.
This study does not prove that elevated oxyhemoglobin or altered cytochrome c oxidase causes ME/CFS fatigue, only that associations exist. It does not establish whether these thumb changes reflect whole-body metabolism or are localized phenomena. The findings are correlational and do not explain the clinical mechanism behind fatigue, nor do they determine whether these changes are primary disease features or secondary consequences.
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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