Vernon, Suzanne D, Funk, Sherlyn, Bateman, Lucinda et al. · Frontiers in medicine · 2022 · DOI
Researchers tested whether a simple 10-minute standing test (NASA Lean Test) could reveal problems in people with Long COVID and ME/CFS. The test made symptoms worse in both patient groups but not in healthy people, and caused measurable changes in blood pressure and thinking speed. This suggests the test could help doctors confirm what patients are experiencing and provide objective evidence of their condition.
This study demonstrates that a simple, reproducible office-based test can objectively document the orthostatic intolerance and cognitive dysfunction that ME/CFS and Long COVID patients report, potentially filling a critical diagnostic gap. Because standard laboratory tests often appear normal in these conditions, having an accessible, standardized test may improve clinical recognition and validation of patient symptoms. The findings suggest this test could become a useful tool for diagnosis and disease monitoring.
This study does not establish the underlying biological mechanisms causing the hemodynamic or cognitive abnormalities observed. It cannot confirm whether orthostatic stress is a primary driver of ME/CFS/Long COVID or merely a manifestation of another underlying process. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or determine whether the NASA Lean Test has predictive or prognostic value, only that it provokes measurable acute responses.
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
Vernon, Suzanne D, Funk, Sherlyn, Bateman, Lucinda, Stoddard, Gregory J, Hammer, Sarah, Sullivan, Karen, et al. (2022). Orthostatic Challenge Causes Distinctive Symptomatic, Hemodynamic and Cognitive Responses in Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Frontiers in medicine. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.917019
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-vernon-2022-orthostatic-challenge,
author = {Vernon, Suzanne D and Funk, Sherlyn and Bateman, Lucinda and Stoddard, Gregory J and Hammer, Sarah and Sullivan, Karen and Bell, Jennifer and Abbaszadeh, Saeed and Lipkin, W Ian and Komaroff, Anthony L},
title = {Orthostatic Challenge Causes Distinctive Symptomatic, Hemodynamic and Cognitive Responses in Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2022.917019},
note = {PubMed: 35847821},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vernon-2022-orthostatic-challenge},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vernon-2022-orthostatic-challenge
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