ME/CFS Evidence Browser — Classified Studies on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

3221–3240 of 6,209 studies

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredLongitudinal

Long-term follow-up of patients from the 1989 Q fever outbreak: no evidence of excess cardiac disease in those with fatigue.

Ayres, J G, Wildman, M, Groves, J et al.·QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians·2002

This study followed people who had Q fever (a bacterial infection) during an outbreak in 1989 to see if persistent fatigue afterward was caused by heart damage. Researchers tested their hearts using ECGs, ultrasounds, and exercise tests over many years. They found that people with ongoing fatigue after Q fever did not have hidden heart problems, though a few people did develop serious heart infections from the original infection.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

Symptom occurrence in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Jason, L A, Torres-Harding, S R, Carrico, A W et al.·Biological psychology·2002

This study compared symptoms between people with ME/CFS, people with depression, and healthy controls to understand which symptoms are specific to ME/CFS. The researchers found that certain pain symptoms (headaches, sore throat, joint and muscle pain) were common in ME/CFS but also appeared in depression. However, ME/CFS patients uniquely experienced widespread muscle weakness and various heart, lung, and nervous system symptoms that weren't seen in the other groups.

Diagnostics

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Physicians' diagnoses of psychiatric disorders for people with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Torres-Harding, Susan R, Jason, Leonard A, Cane, Victoria et al.·International journal of psychiatry in medicine·2002

This study looked at whether doctors correctly identify psychiatric conditions (like depression or anxiety) in patients with ME/CFS compared to other groups. Researchers found that doctors often missed psychiatric disorders when they were present, but they rarely incorrectly diagnosed someone as having a psychiatric condition when they didn't. Interestingly, patients themselves were often better at recognizing their own psychiatric symptoms than their physicians were.

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Daily hassles reported by chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia patients in tertiary care: a controlled quantitative and qualitative study.

Van Houdenhove, Boudewijn, Neerinckx, Eddy, Onghena, Patrick et al.·Psychotherapy and psychosomatics·2002

This study looked at the everyday frustrations and worries that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia patients experience compared to people with other chronic illnesses like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers found that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia patients reported more frequent daily hassles and felt more emotionally distressed by them. The main worries for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia patients centered on feeling bad about themselves, feeling uncertain, and not being recognized or understood by others.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Impaired postural cerebral hemodynamics in young patients with chronic fatigue with and without orthostatic intolerance.

Tanaka, Hidetaka, Matsushima, Reiko, Tamai, Hiroshi et al.·The Journal of pediatrics·2002

This study measured how blood flow to the brain changes when young people with ME/CFS stand up, compared to healthy controls. Researchers found that many ME/CFS patients—especially those who feel dizzy or have a racing heart when standing—did not get the normal quick boost of oxygen to their brain that healthy people do. This suggests that problems with brain blood flow during position changes may be connected to ME/CFS symptoms.

Autonomic Nervous System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Blood volume and its relation to peak O(2) consumption and physical activity in patients with chronic fatigue.

Farquhar, William B, Hunt, Brian E, Taylor, J Andrew et al.·American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology·2002

This study looked at whether people with ME/CFS have lower blood volume (the amount of fluid circulating in their bodies) and whether this might explain their exercise problems. Researchers compared 17 ME/CFS patients with 17 healthy controls, measuring blood volume and fitness capacity. They found that ME/CFS patients had significantly reduced exercise capacity and a trend toward lower blood volume, and these two measurements were strongly related to each other.

Post-Exertional Malaise

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

The relations among body consciousness, somatic symptom report, and information processing speed in chronic fatigue syndrome.

van der Werf, Sieberen P, de Vree, Berna, van Der Meer, Jos W M et al.·Neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, and behavioral neurology·2002

This study looked at whether paying too much attention to bodily sensations and reporting many physical symptoms might slow down how quickly people with ME/CFS can process information and react to tasks. Researchers measured how fast patients could respond to simple tests and found that people who were highly aware of their body sensations reported more symptoms and performed more slowly on reaction time tests. The study suggests that increased attention to the body may be partly responsible for the cognitive slowing that people with ME/CFS experience.

Cognitive Impairment

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

Latent class analysis of symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

Sullivan, P F, Smith, W, Buchwald, D·Psychological medicine·2002

Researchers studied 646 patients with ME/CFS and/or fibromyalgia to see if these are truly separate conditions or if they overlap significantly. Using statistical analysis of 32 common symptoms, they found that patients fell into four groups that differed in severity rather than type—suggesting these conditions are more similar to each other than previously thought. This challenges the traditional belief that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia are distinct disorders.

Diagnostics

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Cognitive functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome and the role of depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

Short, Keryn, McCabe, Marita, Tooley, Greg·Journal of psychosomatic research·2002

This study tested whether people with ME/CFS have actual problems with memory and thinking skills, or whether the difficulty they experience is mainly related to depression, anxiety, or fatigue. Researchers compared 23 people with ME/CFS to 23 healthy people using both objective tests (like memory tasks) and subjective reports (how people felt their thinking was affected). The findings showed that on actual cognitive tests, people with ME/CFS performed just as well as healthy controls, though they reported feeling that their thinking was worse.

Cognitive Impairment

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

Chronic fatigue following infection by Coxiella burnetii (Q fever): ten-year follow-up of the 1989 UK outbreak cohort.

Wildman, M J, Smith, E G, Groves, J et al.·QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians·2002

This study followed people who were exposed to Q fever (a bacterial infection) during an outbreak in the UK in 1989 and checked on them 10 years later. Compared to people who were never exposed to Q fever, those who had been infected were much more likely to experience ongoing fatigue and to meet criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome. However, the study couldn't determine whether this fatigue was caused by the infection still being present in their bodies or by psychological effects from years of medical follow-up.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

A tender sinus does not always mean rhinosinusitis.

Naranch, K, Park, Y-J, Repka-Ramirez, M S et al.·Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery·2002

This study measured how sensitive people's sinuses and skin are to pressure pain across different groups: healthy people, those with sinus infections or allergies, and people with ME/CFS. The researchers found that people with ME/CFS had much more sensitive sinuses and skin overall compared to healthy people, suggesting that ME/CFS causes widespread pain sensitivity rather than actual sinus infection.

Pain and Sensitization

E2 ModeratePEM unclearRegistry-Resource

The Swedish Twin Registry in the third millennium.

Pedersen, Nancy L, Lichtenstein, Paul, Svedberg, Pia·Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies·2002

The Swedish Twin Registry is a long-running database that tracks pairs of twins in Sweden to understand how genetics and environment affect disease. This paper describes the registry's history since the 1950s and mentions plans to study chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) along with other diseases by collecting blood samples and genetic information from twins.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Prevalence of allergen-specific IgE among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Kowal, Krzysztof, Schacterele, Richard S, Schur, Peter H et al.·Allergy and asthma proceedings·2002

This study tested 50 ME/CFS patients for allergies by measuring specific immune proteins called allergen-specific IgE in their blood. Contrary to earlier patient surveys suggesting very high allergy rates, only 36% of ME/CFS patients had detectable allergic antibodies to common allergens like dust mites, pollen, and foods. This rate was similar to what researchers find in the general healthy population, suggesting that allergies may not be uniquely associated with ME/CFS.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

Utility of the blood for gene expression profiling and biomarker discovery in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Vernon, Suzanne D, Unger, Elizabeth R, Dimulescu, Irina M et al.·Disease markers·2002

Researchers examined blood cells from people with ME/CFS and healthy volunteers to see if they could find differences in how genes are turned on or off. They found that blood cells from ME/CFS patients showed different gene activity patterns compared to healthy people, and some of these differences involved immune system genes. This suggests that ME/CFS involves problems with how the immune system is functioning.

BiomarkersImmune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredLongitudinal

Chronic fatigue syndrome and arthralgia following parvovirus B19 infection.

Kerr, Jonathan R, Bracewell, Janice, Laing, Ian et al.·The Journal of rheumatology·2002

This study looked at whether parvovirus B19 infection (a common virus that causes rash and joint pain) can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Researchers followed 51 patients with acute B19 infection and found that some developed lasting joint pain and fatigue months later. Five patients met the diagnostic criteria for CFS after B19 infection, but the study found it very difficult to prove that B19 was the cause without clear evidence of infection at the time fatigue started.

Immune System

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredObservational

Radiophobia: long-term psychological consequences of Chernobyl.

Pastel, Ross H·Military medicine·2002

After the Chernobyl nuclear accident, many people experienced psychological distress and developed symptoms like extreme fatigue, sleep problems, mood changes, memory difficulties, and muscle or joint pain. These symptom patterns resembled chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Importantly, these symptoms appeared in people across both highly and minimally contaminated areas and didn't increase with radiation exposure levels, suggesting psychological stress rather than radiation damage caused the illness.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

Chronic fatigue in a population-based study of Gulf War veterans.

McCauley, Linda A, Joos, Sandra K, Barkhuizen, Andre et al.·Archives of environmental health·2002

Researchers studied Gulf War veterans to see how many had chronic fatigue that couldn't be explained by standard medical tests. They found that about 2.2% of veterans met the official criteria for ME/CFS, and another 5.1% had unexplained fatigue. Women veterans were more likely to have these conditions than men. Unlike some other ME/CFS patients, most of these veterans developed their fatigue gradually rather than suddenly.

Diagnostics

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

IgM serum antibodies to human cytomegalovirus nonstructural gene products p52 and CM2(UL44 and UL57) are uniquely present in a subset of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Lerner, A Martin, Beqaj, Safedin H, Deeter, Robert G et al.·In vivo (Athens, Greece)·2002

Researchers tested blood samples from ME/CFS patients and healthy controls for specific antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus. They found that 16 ME/CFS patients had unique antibodies to two CMV proteins (p52 and CM2) that were not found in 77 control subjects, including other ME/CFS patients and healthy people. This suggests these antibodies might be a specific marker for a subset of ME/CFS patients and could indicate an ongoing or incomplete CMV infection in this group.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

Antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) in Gulf War-related illness and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients.

Skowera, A, Stewart, E, Davis, E T et al.·Clinical and experimental immunology·2002

This study looked for a specific type of immune protein called antinuclear autoantibodies (ANAs) in people with ME/CFS and Gulf War veterans with multiple symptoms. Researchers compared blood samples from ME/CFS patients, symptomatic Gulf War veterans, and healthy controls. They found no significant differences in ANA levels between any of the groups, and none of the patients had the specific nuclear envelope ANA type that had been suggested as a possible ME/CFS marker.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Autonomic instability, as measured by pupillary unrest, is not associated with multiple sclerosis fatigue severity.

Egg, R, Högl, B, Glatzl, S et al.·Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)·2002

This study looked at whether problems with the nervous system's ability to regulate automatic body functions (like pupil responses) might explain fatigue in multiple sclerosis patients. Researchers measured pupil movements in MS patients and healthy volunteers, then compared these measurements to fatigue severity scores. Surprisingly, they found the opposite of what they expected: people with more pupil instability actually reported less fatigue, not more.

Autonomic Nervous System

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Long-term follow-up of patients from the 1989 Q fever outbreak: no evidence of excess cardiac disease in those with fatigue.

Symptom occurrence in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Physicians' diagnoses of psychiatric disorders for people with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Daily hassles reported by chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia patients in tertiary care: a controlled quantitative and qualitative study.

Impaired postural cerebral hemodynamics in young patients with chronic fatigue with and without orthostatic intolerance.

Blood volume and its relation to peak O(2) consumption and physical activity in patients with chronic fatigue.

The relations among body consciousness, somatic symptom report, and information processing speed in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Latent class analysis of symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

Cognitive functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome and the role of depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

Chronic fatigue following infection by Coxiella burnetii (Q fever): ten-year follow-up of the 1989 UK outbreak cohort.

A tender sinus does not always mean rhinosinusitis.

The Swedish Twin Registry in the third millennium.

Prevalence of allergen-specific IgE among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Utility of the blood for gene expression profiling and biomarker discovery in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Chronic fatigue syndrome and arthralgia following parvovirus B19 infection.

Radiophobia: long-term psychological consequences of Chernobyl.

Chronic fatigue in a population-based study of Gulf War veterans.

IgM serum antibodies to human cytomegalovirus nonstructural gene products p52 and CM2(UL44 and UL57) are uniquely present in a subset of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) in Gulf War-related illness and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients.

Autonomic instability, as measured by pupillary unrest, is not associated with multiple sclerosis fatigue severity.

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