Tanaka, Hidetaka, Matsushima, Reiko, Tamai, Hiroshi et al. · The Journal of pediatrics · 2002 · DOI
This study measured how blood flow to the brain changes when young people with ME/CFS stand up, compared to healthy controls. Researchers found that many ME/CFS patients—especially those who feel dizzy or have a racing heart when standing—did not get the normal quick boost of oxygen to their brain that healthy people do. This suggests that problems with brain blood flow during position changes may be connected to ME/CFS symptoms.
Orthostatic intolerance affects many ME/CFS patients and is poorly understood. This study provides objective physiological evidence that abnormal brain blood-oxygen dynamics occur during postural stress in ME/CFS, offering a measurable biological marker that could help explain why patients feel dizzy, fatigued, or symptomatic when standing—and potentially guiding future diagnostic and treatment strategies.
This study is cross-sectional and cannot prove that impaired cerebral hemodynamics *causes* ME/CFS or orthostatic intolerance; it only shows they occur together. Additionally, the study cannot fully explain ME/CFS symptoms in patients without orthostatic intolerance, suggesting other mechanisms are at play. The small sample size and narrow age range limit generalizability to all ME/CFS populations.
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
Tanaka, Hidetaka, Matsushima, Reiko, Tamai, Hiroshi, & Kajimoto, Yoshinaga (2002). Impaired postural cerebral hemodynamics in young patients with chronic fatigue with and without orthostatic intolerance.. The Journal of pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2002.122725
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-tanaka-2002-impaired-postural,
author = {Tanaka, Hidetaka and Matsushima, Reiko and Tamai, Hiroshi and Kajimoto, Yoshinaga},
title = {Impaired postural cerebral hemodynamics in young patients with chronic fatigue with and without orthostatic intolerance.},
journal = {The Journal of pediatrics},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1067/mpd.2002.122725},
note = {PubMed: 12006954},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/tanaka-2002-impaired-postural},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/tanaka-2002-impaired-postural
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