Key TakeawaysResearchers developed a new test to diagnose myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), better known as chronic fatigue syndrome.ME is a complex chronic disease affecting up to 2.5 million Americans.Many COVID-19 long haulers are experiencing ME-like illness.
Key Takeaways
Researchers developed a new test to diagnose myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), better known as chronic fatigue syndrome.ME is a complex chronic disease affecting up to 2.5 million Americans.Many COVID-19 long haulers are experiencing ME-like illness.
Researchers have developed a new test to diagnose myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
The results from the November study may also allow healthcare providers to potentially predict how patients will respond to certain medications, which could help them make treatment more personalized (and hopefully more effective) in the future. The findings were published in the journalScientific Reports.
Causes and Risk Factors of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
This test, he hopes, will result in quicker diagnoses, and faster, more effective treatments.
How It Works
In order to test a patient, researchers attached an inflatable arm cuff to a patient’s arm, which then provided mechanical stimulation. The result causes post-exertional malaise, one of the most common symptoms of ME, and provides an exact molecular signature. This makes it possible to differentiate between ME patients and those without the condition, as well as from patients living with related conditions such as fibromyalgia.
Post-exertional malaise refers to a worsening of ME symptoms after minimal physical or mental exertion. It typically occurs 12 to 48 hours after activity and can last for days or even weeks.
Next comes a blood test. The test detected a change in abundance of 11 microRNAs in patients' blood compared with blood drawn before the test. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that act inside cells to regulate gene expression—and have been the subject of research interest as potential diagnostic tools for several conditions.
Most of these 11 microRNAs found were involved in regulating immunity, which supports the idea that immune dysfunction plays a key role in ME. The findings are the first step in developing a molecular diagnostic test for the disease.
An increase or reduction of some of the microRNAs measured in the test can also help predict the patient’s therapeutic response to certain drugs, which improves the chances of finding the right therapy to personalize treatment.
How Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Diagnosed
The research team is now validating the test in other groups and continuing clinical trials. The test may allow for early detection of ME in people with persistent post-COVID-19 symptoms that are very similar to ME, making earlier intervention possible, the researchers add.
What This Means For YouIn the future, tools like these may make it easier to diagnose ME. If you’re a recovered COVID-19 patient and feel lingering symptoms like fatigue, talk to your healthcare provider about treatment and your next steps.
What This Means For You
In the future, tools like these may make it easier to diagnose ME. If you’re a recovered COVID-19 patient and feel lingering symptoms like fatigue, talk to your healthcare provider about treatment and your next steps.
Lingering COVID-19 Symptoms
Of the 292 people the CDC surveyed on post-COVID-19 recoveries, 35% reported fatigue. These patients who have yet to fully recover are commonly referred to as COVID-19 “long-haulers.”
In a November 2020 letter to the editor of the journalMed Hypotheses, a group of doctors voiced their concerns about the lingering effects on COVID-19 patients. The doctors recommended more proactive testing for CFS in recovered COVID-19 patients.
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“[The pandemic] will bring a huge number of new [ME/CFS] patients, and some of them are relatively young. That will create some devastating impacts for themselves and their families,” Moreau toldTheScientist. “That’s why we need to hurry and hope that we will convince governments and funding agencies to [put more funding into the field].”
COVID-19 ‘Long-Haulers’ Search for Answers About Chronic Cases
The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mayo Clinic.Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. September 24, 2020.Nepotchatykh, E., Elremaly, W., Caraus, I.et al.Profile of circulating microRNAs in myalgic encephalomyelitis and their relation to symptom severity, and disease pathophysiology.Sci Rep.2020;10(19620). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76438-yArdekani AM, Naeini MM.The Role of MicroRNAs in Human Diseases.Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2010;2(4):161-179.Tenforde MW, Kim SS, Lindsell CJ, et al.Symptom Duration and Risk Factors for Delayed Return to Usual Health Among Outpatients with COVID-19 in a Multistate Health Care Systems Network — United States, March–June 2020.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:993-998. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6930e1Perrin R, Riste L, Hann M, Walther A, Mukherjee A, Heald A.Into the looking glass: Post-viral syndrome post COVID-19.Med Hypotheses. 2020;144:110055. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110055Harvard Health Publishing.The tragedy of the post-COVID “long haulers”. October 15, 2020.
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mayo Clinic.Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. September 24, 2020.Nepotchatykh, E., Elremaly, W., Caraus, I.et al.Profile of circulating microRNAs in myalgic encephalomyelitis and their relation to symptom severity, and disease pathophysiology.Sci Rep.2020;10(19620). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76438-yArdekani AM, Naeini MM.The Role of MicroRNAs in Human Diseases.Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2010;2(4):161-179.Tenforde MW, Kim SS, Lindsell CJ, et al.Symptom Duration and Risk Factors for Delayed Return to Usual Health Among Outpatients with COVID-19 in a Multistate Health Care Systems Network — United States, March–June 2020.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:993-998. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6930e1Perrin R, Riste L, Hann M, Walther A, Mukherjee A, Heald A.Into the looking glass: Post-viral syndrome post COVID-19.Med Hypotheses. 2020;144:110055. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110055Harvard Health Publishing.The tragedy of the post-COVID “long haulers”. October 15, 2020.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Mayo Clinic.Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. September 24, 2020.Nepotchatykh, E., Elremaly, W., Caraus, I.et al.Profile of circulating microRNAs in myalgic encephalomyelitis and their relation to symptom severity, and disease pathophysiology.Sci Rep.2020;10(19620). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76438-yArdekani AM, Naeini MM.The Role of MicroRNAs in Human Diseases.Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2010;2(4):161-179.Tenforde MW, Kim SS, Lindsell CJ, et al.Symptom Duration and Risk Factors for Delayed Return to Usual Health Among Outpatients with COVID-19 in a Multistate Health Care Systems Network — United States, March–June 2020.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:993-998. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6930e1Perrin R, Riste L, Hann M, Walther A, Mukherjee A, Heald A.Into the looking glass: Post-viral syndrome post COVID-19.Med Hypotheses. 2020;144:110055. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110055Harvard Health Publishing.The tragedy of the post-COVID “long haulers”. October 15, 2020.
Mayo Clinic.Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. September 24, 2020.
Nepotchatykh, E., Elremaly, W., Caraus, I.et al.Profile of circulating microRNAs in myalgic encephalomyelitis and their relation to symptom severity, and disease pathophysiology.Sci Rep.2020;10(19620). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76438-y
Ardekani AM, Naeini MM.The Role of MicroRNAs in Human Diseases.Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2010;2(4):161-179.
Tenforde MW, Kim SS, Lindsell CJ, et al.Symptom Duration and Risk Factors for Delayed Return to Usual Health Among Outpatients with COVID-19 in a Multistate Health Care Systems Network — United States, March–June 2020.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:993-998. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6930e1
Perrin R, Riste L, Hann M, Walther A, Mukherjee A, Heald A.Into the looking glass: Post-viral syndrome post COVID-19.Med Hypotheses. 2020;144:110055. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110055
Harvard Health Publishing.The tragedy of the post-COVID “long haulers”. October 15, 2020.
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