Sakudo, Akikazu · Molecular medicine reports · 2016 · DOI
This review examines whether a special type of light-based scanning called visible and near-infrared spectroscopy could help diagnose ME/CFS objectively. Currently, doctors diagnose ME/CFS only by listening to patient symptoms, with no blood test or physical measurement available. Researchers found that this light-scanning technique can detect differences in blood samples and thumb tissue between people with ME/CFS and healthy people, suggesting it might identify biological markers of the disease.
ME/CFS currently lacks objective diagnostic tests, forcing physicians to rely solely on symptoms and exclusion of other diseases. Developing a reliable biomarker-based diagnostic tool would reduce diagnostic delays, improve patient recognition, and enable earlier treatment. This review highlights spectroscopy as a promising non-invasive approach that could eventually provide the objective diagnosis ME/CFS patients have long needed.
This review does not prove that Vis-NIR spectroscopy successfully diagnoses ME/CFS in clinical practice, as it synthesizes existing research rather than conducting new clinical trials. It does not establish the specific biological mechanisms causing the spectral differences observed. It also does not demonstrate that such testing is practical, cost-effective, or superior to other emerging diagnostic approaches.
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 →
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.