Stanculescu, Dominic, Sepúlveda, Nuno, Lim, Chin Leong et al. · Frontiers in neurology · 2021 · DOI
This study compares how the body breaks down during heat stroke with what happens in ME/CFS. Both conditions involve similar problems: inflammation, damage to the gut lining that allows harmful substances into the bloodstream, blood clotting issues, and problems with how cells produce energy. By understanding heat stroke better, researchers hope to find new ways to treat ME/CFS.
This study bridges two different disease fields to identify common biological pathways in ME/CFS. Understanding these shared mechanisms could accelerate drug discovery by allowing researchers to repurpose heat stroke therapeutics for ME/CFS and help explain why the condition persists once initiated.
This is a literature review and does not provide new experimental data directly proving these mechanisms occur in ME/CFS patients. The similarities identified are correlational and suggestive rather than causal. The fact that heat stroke and ME/CFS share some mechanisms does not mean they have the same underlying cause, given their very different triggering events (acute heat exposure vs. unclear triggers).
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
Stanculescu, Dominic, Sepúlveda, Nuno, Lim, Chin Leong, & Bergquist, Jonas (2021). Lessons From Heat Stroke for Understanding Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Frontiers in neurology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.789784
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-stanculescu-2021-lessons-heat,
author = {Stanculescu, Dominic and Sepúlveda, Nuno and Lim, Chin Leong and Bergquist, Jonas},
title = {Lessons From Heat Stroke for Understanding Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Frontiers in neurology},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.3389/fneur.2021.789784},
note = {PubMed: 34966354},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/stanculescu-2021-lessons-heat},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/stanculescu-2021-lessons-heat
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