Kantrowitz, F G, Farrar, D J, Locke, S E · Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.) · 1995 · DOI
This review article examines different ways to treat ME/CFS and outlines important directions for future research. The authors discuss various treatment approaches that have been studied and identify gaps in our current understanding of the condition. The paper emphasizes that while treatment options exist, more research is needed to find more effective therapies.
This review is historically significant as an early systematic examination of ME/CFS treatment approaches and research needs during a period when the condition was gaining medical recognition. It helped establish a framework for identifying research priorities that influenced subsequent ME/CFS investigations. Understanding these foundational discussions is valuable for appreciating how the field's therapeutic and research approaches have evolved.
As a review article, this paper does not present original experimental data or clinical trial results; it summarizes existing literature rather than establishing new evidence. The paper cannot definitively prove the efficacy of any particular treatment, nor can it establish causal mechanisms of ME/CFS. The 1995 timeframe means it does not address more recent biomedical discoveries or treatment approaches developed in subsequent decades.
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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