Jones, James F, Nicholson, Ainsley, Nisenbaum, Rosane et al. · The American journal of medicine · 2005 · DOI
This study tested whether people with ME/CFS have problems with their body's ability to regulate blood pressure and heart rate when changing positions (like standing up). Researchers compared 58 people with ME/CFS to 55 healthy people using a tilt table test. Surprisingly, they found that both groups had similar rates of these problems, suggesting that this particular type of autonomic dysfunction may not be a primary cause of ME/CFS.
Many ME/CFS patients experience dizziness and heart rate changes when standing, raising the question of whether autonomic dysfunction is central to the disease. This study directly addresses that hypothesis using objective testing in a population-based sample, helping clarify whether treating autonomic dysfunction should be a primary therapeutic focus for ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that autonomic dysfunction plays no role in ME/CFS symptoms—it only shows that orthostatic instability measured by tilt table testing is not uniquely associated with ME/CFS. The findings do not rule out other forms of autonomic dysfunction or explain why some ME/CFS patients report orthostatic symptoms despite normal test results. It also does not establish causation or address whether secondary autonomic changes occur in response to other disease mechanisms.
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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