Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
This review found that Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) share many symptoms and similar biological changes. People with both conditions often have long-lasting fatigue, thinking problems, sleep disruption, pain, post-exertional worsening, and signs of problems in the brain, autonomic nervous system, heart, lungs, immune system, gut microbiome,…
This study measured health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Danish patients with ME/CFS using the EQ-5D-3L tool and found their scores were much lower than the general population and lower than 20 other conditions. The average (unadjusted) EQ-5D-3L score for the ME/CFS group was 0.47, while the population average was…
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is defined as more than 6 months of new, disabling physical and mental tiredness that is not relieved by rest. Up to about 85% of people with CFS report cognitive problems called “brain fog,” described as slow thinking, trouble focusing, confusion, forgetfulness, or a hazy mind.…
This study followed 228 patients diagnosed with stress-related Exhaustion Disorder (mean age 43, 69% women). Almost all patients (98%) reported at least one physical symptom and 45% reported six or more. The most common symptoms were nausea/gas/indigestion (67%), headaches (65%) and dizziness (57%). Over 18 months of individualized treatment for…
The results suggested that CFS is associated with IFOF WM deficits which continue to deteriorate at an abnormal rate. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1301-1311.
This paper compares how big the health and economic impact of ME/CFS is to how much the U.S. NIH spends on research. Using earlier prevalence data and 2017 funding figures, the authors estimate ME/CFS affects 1 to 2.5 million Americans, has a disease burden about twice that of HIV/AIDS and…
This review says that calling ME/CFS a psychosomatic illness does not fit current scientific evidence and harms patients. ME/CFS has been classed as a neurological disease since 1969. Studies report repeated physical abnormalities in blood flow, vascular function, energy metabolism, and immune markers, and many patients develop ME/CFS after an…
This review explains why fatigue is hard to study and how artificial intelligence (AI) might help. Fatigue is a personal, subjective feeling that shows up in many ways and comes from many interacting body systems. That makes it hard to measure, compare across people, and link to clear biological causes.…
This review examines the long-running debate about what causes myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The authors say history often shows an early “dogma” explanation is later replaced by scientific study, and they argue the same is happening for ME/CFS. They claim psychological explanations remain common despite what they call compelling…
This case report describes a 68-year-old woman with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain that had not improved with standard treatments. She received seven increasing intravenous (IV) ketamine doses over two weeks, then continued IV ketamine twice weekly for more than a year. While on this schedule she reported marked, widespread…
This editorial pulls together recent research on fatigue. It notes that fatigue is common, can come from body or brain processes, and can be mild in healthy people or very disabling in illnesses like ME/CFS, long COVID, and MS. The authors report specific numbers from large reviews, describe studies on…
