Landmark Study Confirms Biological Basis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Landmark Study Confirms Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is 'Unambiguously Biological' 🔗

In 2016, years before long COVID was a thing, the US National Institutes of Health, the largest single public funder of medical research in the world, launched a study into a long-neglected and puzzling condition: chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also...

A landmark study conducted by the US National Institutes of Health has revealed that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), is unambiguously biological, with distinct biological differences found in a small group of 17 individuals with the condition compared to healthy controls. The study involved extensive testing and analysis, uncovering systemic changes affecting multiple organ systems, including immune and gut microbiome alterations impacting the central nervous system. The research sheds light on the physiological underpinnings of fatigue in ME/CFS, laying the groundwork for future investigations. However, some ME/CFS advocacy groups have questioned the study's approach and its exclusion of certain core features of the condition. The study, published in Nature Communications, aims to pave the way for further research in this area.

Landmark study by NIH confirms ME/CFS is biologically based
Extensive testing reveals systemic changes impacting multiple organ systems
Study sheds light on physiological underpinnings of fatigue in ME/CFS
Questions raised by ME/CFS advocacy groups regarding study approach and exclusion of core features
Research published in Nature Communications sets the stage for future investigations