Kennedy, Gwen, Norris, Gillian, Spence, Vance et al. · Blood coagulation & fibrinolysis : an international journal in haemostasis and thrombosis · 2006 · DOI
This study looked at whether people with ME/CFS have problems with blood clotting and platelet activation (small cells in blood that help form clots). Researchers tested 17 patients with CFS and 16 healthy control participants using standard blood tests. They found no evidence that CFS patients have increased clotting problems or overactive platelets.
Some researchers had proposed that abnormal blood clotting might contribute to ME/CFS symptoms. This study provides evidence against that theory, suggesting anti-clotting treatments would not be beneficial for CFS patients, which helps redirect research and clinical attention toward other potential biological mechanisms.
This study does not prove that blood clotting has no role in ME/CFS in all patients or subgroups—the small sample size and disease heterogeneity mean clotting abnormalities could still affect specific patient populations not well-represented here. It also does not address whether clotting problems might develop later in disease course or appear under specific physiological conditions.
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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