ME/CFS Evidence Browser — Classified Studies on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

3521–3540 of 6,209 studies

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Does the chronic fatigue syndrome involve the autonomic nervous system?

Freeman, R, Komaroff, A L·The American journal of medicine·1997

This study tested whether ME/CFS patients have problems with their autonomic nervous system—the part of the nervous system that controls automatic functions like heart rate and blood pressure. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had abnormal heart rate and blood pressure responses during standing and tilting tests, and their nervous system wasn't regulating these responses properly. The findings suggest that either deconditioning from reduced activity, a viral infection damaging the nervous system, or both could explain why many ME/CFS patients feel dizzy or faint when standing up.

Autonomic Nervous System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

An investigation of sympathetic hypersensitivity in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Sendrowski, D P, Buker, E A, Gee, S S·Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry·1997

Researchers tested whether ME/CFS patients have unusually sensitive nerves that control pupil size, similar to what is seen in fibromyalgia. They applied eye drops to 29 ME/CFS patients and 33 healthy controls and measured how much the pupils dilated. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that ME/CFS patients do not have this type of nerve sensitivity.

Autonomic Nervous System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

High frequency of autoantibodies to insoluble cellular antigens in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

von Mikecz, A, Konstantinov, K, Buchwald, D S et al.·Arthritis and rheumatism·1997

Researchers tested blood samples from 60 ME/CFS patients and found that 83% had unusual antibodies (immune proteins) attacking their own cells—specifically targeting proteins that form the structural framework inside and around cell nuclei. These antibodies were rarely seen in healthy people (only 17%), suggesting this autoimmune pattern might be unique to ME/CFS and could potentially help doctors identify the disease.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

[Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome and primary fibromyalgia syndrome in The Netherlands].

Bazelmans, E, Vercoulen, J H, Galama, J M et al.·Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde·1997

This study asked general doctors across the Netherlands how many ME/CFS and fibromyalgia patients they saw in their practices. Based on their responses, researchers estimated that about 112 out of every 100,000 people in the Netherlands have ME/CFS, and 157 out of every 100,000 have fibromyalgia. The study found that both conditions affect mostly women and tend to develop in early-to-middle adulthood.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

Immune responses associated with chronic fatigue syndrome: a case-control study.

Mawle, A C, Nisenbaum, R, Dobbins, J G et al.·The Journal of infectious diseases·1997

Researchers compared immune system measurements between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls to see if immune differences could reliably detect the illness. While previous studies reported many immune differences, this careful study found most standard immune tests showed no difference between patients and controls. However, when they looked at specific subgroups—such as patients whose illness started suddenly versus gradually—they did find some immune differences, suggesting that ME/CFS may not be a single uniform immune condition.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredLongitudinal

Epidemic neuromyasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome in west Otago, New Zealand. A 10-year follow-up.

Levine, P H, Snow, P G, Ranum, B A et al.·Archives of internal medicine·1997

In 1984, an outbreak of prolonged fatigue occurred in West Otago, New Zealand. Researchers followed up with 21 of the original patients about 10 years later and found that nearly half still met the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, while the other half had improved or experienced less severe fatigue. Most patients were able to return to their normal activities, though some needed to make lifestyle changes to avoid getting worse again.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Chronic fatigue syndrome criteria in patients with other forms of unexplained chronic fatigue.

Chester, A C·Journal of psychiatric research·1997

This study looked at nearly 300 young people to see how many had symptoms similar to ME/CFS even though they didn't have a confirmed ME/CFS diagnosis. The researchers found that people with unexplained chronic fatigue shared many symptoms with ME/CFS patients, including fever, sore lymph nodes, muscle weakness, muscle pain, headaches, joint pain, brain fog, and sleep problems. This suggests that ME/CFS symptoms are common in people with other types of long-lasting, unexplained tiredness.

Diagnostics

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Neuropsychological and psychological functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Kane, R L, Gantz, N M, DiPino, R K·Neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, and behavioral neurology·1997

This study compared 17 people with ME/CFS to 17 healthy controls on thinking and memory tests, as well as psychological well-being. While ME/CFS patients reported feeling cognitively foggy, most formal test scores were similar between groups. However, ME/CFS patients showed significantly higher levels of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression compared to controls.

Cognitive Impairment

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredObservational

[Chronic fatigue syndrome: study of the clinical course of 28 cases].

Miró, O, Font, C, Fernández-Solà, J et al.·Medicina clinica·1997

This study followed 28 patients with ME/CFS for an average of 3.2 years to see how their illness progressed over time. Only about one in five patients improved or recovered, while nearly half experienced job loss or long-term work incapacity. The researchers found that married patients tended to do better than unmarried patients, though most patients remained significantly disabled.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Precipitating factors for the chronic fatigue syndrome.

Salit, I E·Journal of psychiatric research·1997

This study looked at what triggered ME/CFS in 134 patients by asking them about their medical history, infections, and life events. While many patients reported an illness before ME/CFS started, actual proof of a specific infection was rare. Importantly, the researchers found that stressful life events in the year before ME/CFS onset were very common in patients but uncommon in healthy people, suggesting multiple different factors may trigger the illness rather than one single cause.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Markers of inflammation and immune activation in chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Buchwald, D, Wener, M H, Pearlman, T et al.·The Journal of rheumatology·1997

Researchers tested blood samples from 153 patients with severe fatigue to see if certain immune markers were elevated, thinking that an overactive immune system might cause ME/CFS. They found that three markers (C-reactive protein, beta 2-microglobulin, and neopterin) were higher in fatigued patients compared to healthy controls, but these markers couldn't reliably distinguish between ME/CFS and other types of chronic fatigue. The results suggest that some patients have signs of immune activation, but it's unclear whether this is a temporary response to infection or part of the ongoing illness.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredLongitudinal

The natural history of concurrent sick building syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Chester, A C, Levine, P H·Journal of psychiatric research·1997

This study followed 23 people who developed fatigue and other symptoms during an outbreak linked to a problem building environment. Four years later, about two-thirds of the group had improved significantly or felt much better, while about one-third remained quite ill and unable to work. People who improved tended to also see their respiratory symptoms, sore throats, and headaches get better over time.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredObservational

Surveillance for chronic fatigue syndrome--four U.S. cities, September 1989 through August 1993.

Reyes, M, Gary, H E, Dobbins, J G et al.·MMWR. CDC surveillance summaries : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. CDC surveillance summaries·1997

Between 1989 and 1993, researchers in four U.S. cities tracked patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) to understand how common it was and what it looked like. Of 565 patients evaluated, 130 met the CFS criteria. The study found that CFS affected about 4 to 9 people per 100,000 in the general population, but was much more common in white women. Most CFS patients were in their 30s when they got sick and had been ill for about 7 years.

Diagnostics

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

The relation of sleep difficulties to fatigue, mood and disability in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Morriss, R K, Wearden, A J, Battersby, L·Journal of psychosomatic research·1997

This study looked at sleep problems in 69 people with ME/CFS who had no mental health conditions and 58 with ME/CFS plus depression or anxiety. Researchers found that sleep difficulties are common in ME/CFS but are usually caused by the illness itself rather than depression. People with ME/CFS often took naps and woke up from pain, and when their sleep got worse, their ME/CFS symptoms often worsened too.

Sleep

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Patterns of utilization of medical care and perceptions of the relationship between doctor and patient with chronic illness including chronic fatigue syndrome.

Twemlow, S W, Bradshaw, S L, Coyne, L et al.·Psychological reports·1997

This study surveyed 609 people with ME/CFS to understand how their relationships with doctors differ from those of other patients with medical conditions. People with ME/CFS reported missing about 65 days of work per year due to illness, experienced more side effects from medical treatments, spent more money on healthcare, and visited more specialists than patients with typical medical conditions. The researchers found that doctors may need to pay more attention to how ME/CFS patients perceive their illness and their doctor-patient relationship, as these beliefs can affect how well treatments work.

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Screening for psychiatric disorders in chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Buchwald, D, Pearlman, T, Kith, P et al.·Journal of psychosomatic research·1997

This study looked at how common mental health conditions are in people with chronic fatigue and ME/CFS, and tested whether a simple questionnaire could help identify these conditions. Researchers interviewed 281 patients and found that about one-third had a current mental health disorder, while over 80% had experienced one at some point in their lives. A screening tool called the General Health Questionnaire performed reasonably well at spotting current psychiatric conditions, though it wasn't perfect.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Fatigue in multiple sclerosis compared with chronic fatigue syndrome: A quantitative assessment.

Djaldetti, R, Ziv, I, Achiron, A et al.·Neurology·1996

Researchers developed a test to measure fatigue by checking how quickly a person's muscle strength drops during repeated effort. They tested this in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), people with ME/CFS, and healthy volunteers. People with MS showed more muscle fatigue than those with ME/CFS or no illness, especially if their MS affected movement control.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Metabolic and cardiovascular effects of a progressive exercise test in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Sisto, S A, LaManca, J, Cordero, D L et al.·The American journal of medicine·1996

Researchers tested how well women with ME/CFS could exercise compared to healthy controls by having them walk on a treadmill until exhaustion. Women with ME/CFS had lower aerobic fitness levels than healthy controls, but their hearts and lungs appeared to work normally. Importantly, the maximal exercise test did not cause a major flare-up of fatigue or other ME/CFS symptoms.

Post-Exertional Malaise

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Memory, attention, and executive function in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Joyce, E, Blumenthal, S, Wessely, S·Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·1996

This study compared the thinking abilities of 20 people with ME/CFS to 20 healthy controls using computerized tests and word tasks. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had difficulty with memory tasks that required effort and attention, especially when they had to actively retrieve or organize information themselves. However, their problems were different from those seen in dementia or stroke-related memory loss, and they performed normally on simpler memory tests.

Cognitive Impairment

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Health status in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and in general population and disease comparison groups.

Komaroff, A L, Fagioli, L R, Doolittle, T H et al.·The American journal of medicine·1996

This study measured how much ME/CFS affects people's daily lives and well-being compared to people without the illness and people with other serious conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and depression. Researchers found that people with ME/CFS had much greater difficulty with physical and mental activities than the general population and most other disease groups—similar in severity only to depression, though in different ways.

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Does the chronic fatigue syndrome involve the autonomic nervous system?

An investigation of sympathetic hypersensitivity in chronic fatigue syndrome.

High frequency of autoantibodies to insoluble cellular antigens in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

[Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome and primary fibromyalgia syndrome in The Netherlands].

Immune responses associated with chronic fatigue syndrome: a case-control study.

Epidemic neuromyasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome in west Otago, New Zealand. A 10-year follow-up.

Chronic fatigue syndrome criteria in patients with other forms of unexplained chronic fatigue.

Neuropsychological and psychological functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome.

[Chronic fatigue syndrome: study of the clinical course of 28 cases].

Precipitating factors for the chronic fatigue syndrome.

Markers of inflammation and immune activation in chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.

The natural history of concurrent sick building syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Surveillance for chronic fatigue syndrome--four U.S. cities, September 1989 through August 1993.

The relation of sleep difficulties to fatigue, mood and disability in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Patterns of utilization of medical care and perceptions of the relationship between doctor and patient with chronic illness including chronic fatigue syndrome.

Screening for psychiatric disorders in chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Fatigue in multiple sclerosis compared with chronic fatigue syndrome: A quantitative assessment.

Metabolic and cardiovascular effects of a progressive exercise test in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Memory, attention, and executive function in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Health status in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and in general population and disease comparison groups.

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