You, Mengying, Guo, Wensheng · The annals of applied statistics · 2024 · DOI
This study looked at two stress hormones—ACTH and cortisol—in people with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia compared to healthy controls. Using a new mathematical method to track these hormones over time, researchers found that healthy people show a normal daily rhythm in how these hormones work together, while patients with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia show an irregular, unpredictable pattern instead.
Abnormal hormone regulation is thought to contribute to ME/CFS symptom severity, particularly fatigue and sleep disturbance. This novel statistical method provides a more accurate way to detect and quantify these hormone dysregulation patterns, potentially enabling better understanding of disease mechanisms and monitoring treatment response.
This study demonstrates that circadian hormone dysregulation *exists* in ME/CFS patients but does not establish whether this dysregulation *causes* symptoms or is a secondary consequence of disease. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of causality or longitudinal progression. The method's ability to predict clinical outcomes or guide treatment decisions remains unproven.
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 →
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.