Berg, D, Berg, L H, Couvaras, J et al. · Blood coagulation & fibrinolysis : an international journal in haemostasis and thrombosis · 1999 · DOI
This study proposes that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia may be caused by low-level blood clotting activation triggered by certain antibodies in the immune system. Researchers used five specific blood tests to detect signs of abnormal clotting in patients with these conditions. If confirmed, this finding could help doctors diagnose these diseases and monitor treatment with blood-thinning medications.
If validated, this model would provide a biological explanation for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia—conditions long dismissed as psychosomatic—and offer a concrete diagnostic test to identify affected patients. Linking these conditions to APS could redirect treatment strategies toward anticoagulation approaches, potentially benefiting patients who currently have no disease-modifying therapies.
This study does not establish that coagulation activation causes ME/CFS or fibromyalgia; it only demonstrates an association and proposes a mechanistic hypothesis. The work is preliminary and does not prove the ISAC panel is clinically useful, reliable, or superior to existing diagnostic approaches. Nor does it demonstrate that anticoagulation treatment would be safe or effective in ME/CFS patients.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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