Castori, Marco, Morlino, Silvia, Celletti, Claudia et al. · American journal of medical genetics. Part A · 2013 · DOI
This review examines joint hypermobility syndrome and a related condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobility type, which cause chronic pain, loose joints, and other symptoms like fatigue and headaches. The authors describe how these conditions develop over time and suggest that they may share similar underlying mechanisms with other chronic illnesses like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia. The goal is to help doctors better recognize and treat these conditions.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS researchers because it identifies overlap between JHS/EDS-HT and ME/CFS in terms of fatigue, pain, and headache symptoms, and proposes shared pathophysiologic mechanisms. Understanding these connections may help clarify overlapping symptom clusters and potential common biological pathways in related functional somatic syndromes, which could inform future diagnostic and treatment approaches.
This review does not prove that ME/CFS and JHS/EDS-HT share identical molecular mechanisms—it only proposes comparisons based on symptom overlap and clinical observation. It does not establish causal relationships or provide molecular evidence for the suggested pathogenic pathways. The findings are limited to literature synthesis and expert clinical opinion rather than controlled experimental or epidemiological data.
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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