Vilikus, Z, Marecková, H, Janatková, I et al. · Sbornik lekarsky · 1998
This study compared heart disease risk factors between people with ME/CFS and healthy controls. Researchers found that despite ME/CFS patients exercising less overall, they had no higher risk for heart disease than the control group. This suggests that reduced exercise activity in ME/CFS does not appear to increase cardiovascular risk in the way it might in other conditions.
This study addresses an important clinical concern: whether the profound reduction in physical activity characteristic of ME/CFS increases cardiovascular disease risk. The finding that reduced exercise in ME/CFS does not translate to elevated CAD risk factors is reassuring for patients and suggests that the pathophysiology of ME/CFS differs from typical sedentary-lifestyle-related cardiovascular disease.
This study does not establish causation or long-term cardiovascular outcomes—it only examined risk factors at a single timepoint. It does not explain why ME/CFS patients have lower exercise capacity, nor does it address whether longer-term follow-up might reveal delayed cardiovascular effects. The small sample size and lack of detailed ME/CFS severity characterization limit generalizability.
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
Vilikus, Z, Marecková, H, Janatková, I, Krystůfková, O, Barácková, M, Boudová, L, et al. (1998). [Risk factors for ischemic heart disease in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome].. Sbornik lekarsky. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9748798/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-vilikus-1998-risk-factors,
author = {Vilikus, Z and Marecková, H and Janatková, I and Krystůfková, O and Barácková, M and Boudová, L and Brandejský, P and Fucíková, T},
title = {[Risk factors for ischemic heart disease in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome].},
journal = {Sbornik lekarsky},
year = {1998},
note = {PubMed: 9748798},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vilikus-1998-risk-factors},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vilikus-1998-risk-factors
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