Van Hoof, Elke, De Becker, Pascale, Lapp, Charles et al. · The American journal of the medical sciences · 2007 · DOI
This study looked at sleep patterns in 48 ME/CFS patients using overnight sleep recordings. Researchers found that patients had difficulty falling asleep, spent less time in deep restorative sleep, and showed an unusual pattern of brain waves (alpha-delta intrusion) during sleep. Interestingly, this abnormal sleep pattern was linked to anxiety rather than to immune system changes.
Sleep disturbance is a cardinal feature of ME/CFS, and this study provides objective polysomnographic evidence of specific architectural abnormalities. By testing the hypothesis that immune dysregulation (specifically RNase L pathway dysfunction) drives these sleep problems, the findings redirect clinical attention toward anxiety as a potential contributor and suggest that sleep disorders in ME/CFS may not be solely immune-mediated.
This study does not prove that anxiety causes alpha-delta sleep or that sleep disturbances in ME/CFS are primarily psychiatric in origin; correlation alone cannot establish causality, and anxiety may itself be secondary to sleep disruption or underlying disease pathology. The lack of correlation with RNase L does not exclude other immune mechanisms from contributing to sleep dysfunction. The cross-sectional design cannot establish temporal relationships or rule out confounding variables.
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
Van Hoof, Elke, De Becker, Pascale, Lapp, Charles, Cluydts, Raymond, & De Meirleir, Kenny (2007). Defining the occurrence and influence of alpha-delta sleep in chronic fatigue syndrome.. The American journal of the medical sciences. https://doi.org/10.1097/00000441-200702000-00003
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-hoof-2007-defining-occurrence,
author = {Van Hoof, Elke and De Becker, Pascale and Lapp, Charles and Cluydts, Raymond and De Meirleir, Kenny},
title = {Defining the occurrence and influence of alpha-delta sleep in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {The American journal of the medical sciences},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1097/00000441-200702000-00003},
note = {PubMed: 17301585},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-hoof-2007-defining-occurrence},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-hoof-2007-defining-occurrence
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