Calabrese, L H, Davis, M E, Wilke, W S · Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 1994 · DOI
This study looked at whether people diagnosed with ME/CFS might actually have a condition similar to Sjögren's syndrome, a disease that causes dry mouth and eyes along with immune system problems. Researchers found that many patients in their ME/CFS clinic had signs of this Sjögren's-like illness, including abnormal tests and certain antibodies in their blood. The study suggests these two conditions may overlap more often than doctors realize.
This early observation is important because it suggests ME/CFS may include multiple disease phenotypes, and some patients may have concurrent autoimmune features that go unrecognized. Understanding potential overlaps with conditions like Sjögren's syndrome could lead to better diagnostic approaches and tailored treatment strategies for specific patient subgroups.
This study does not prove that ME/CFS and Sjögren's syndrome are the same disease or that one causes the other—it only shows an association in one clinic population. The cross-sectional design cannot establish temporal relationships or causality, and selection bias may have inflated the apparent prevalence because patients were already seeking care for fatigue. Findings may not generalize to all ME/CFS populations.
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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