Furquim, Bruno D'Aurea, Flamengui, Lívia Maria Sales Pinto, Conti, Paulo César Rodrigues · Dental press journal of orthodontics · 2015 · DOI
This review examines how temporomandibular disorders (jaw joint and muscle problems) develop and persist. The authors found that chronic muscle pain in the jaw works similarly to other widespread pain conditions like fibromyalgia and ME/CFS—through a process called central sensitization where the nervous system becomes overly sensitive to pain signals. They explain that genetics and nervous system function influence whether symptoms improve or worsen.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS because it explicitly categorizes chronic fatigue syndrome alongside TMD as a central sensitization disorder with shared pathophysiology. Understanding how central sensitization operates across these conditions may help identify common therapeutic targets and validate the neurobiological basis of ME/CFS-related pain and symptoms.
This review does not establish causal mechanisms or provide empirical data demonstrating central sensitization in TMD or ME/CFS populations. It does not prove that genetic polymorphisms or autonomic dysfunction directly cause these conditions, nor does it establish whether central sensitization is primary or secondary to other pathological processes.
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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