Yamamoto, Yoshiharu, LaManca, John J, Natelson, Benjamin H · Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2003 · DOI
This study tested whether a simple heart rhythm measurement during a tilt test could help diagnose ME/CFS. Researchers compared heart rate patterns in 24 women with ME/CFS and 22 healthy women while they lay down and then tilted upright for 10 minutes. They found that women with ME/CFS showed a distinctive abnormal change in their heart rhythm pattern during tilting that could identify about 9 out of 10 ME/CFS patients correctly.
ME/CFS lacks objective diagnostic biomarkers, making this potential HRV-based measure significant for clinical identification and research standardization. A simple, non-invasive test that could reliably distinguish ME/CFS patients from healthy controls would improve diagnosis and enable better patient stratification in future studies.
This study does not establish causation or explain why this HRV abnormality occurs in ME/CFS. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether the HRV change predicts disease severity, progression, or treatment response, nor whether findings generalize to male patients or different 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
Yamamoto, Yoshiharu, LaManca, John J, & Natelson, Benjamin H (2003). A measure of heart rate variability is sensitive to orthostatic challenge in women with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.). https://doi.org/10.1177/153537020322800206
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-yamamoto-2003-measure-heart,
author = {Yamamoto, Yoshiharu and LaManca, John J and Natelson, Benjamin H},
title = {A measure of heart rate variability is sensitive to orthostatic challenge in women with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.)},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1177/153537020322800206},
note = {PubMed: 12563023},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yamamoto-2003-measure-heart},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yamamoto-2003-measure-heart
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