Li, Danxi, Hu, Di, Shigeta, Mika et al. · Neuroscience research · 2021 · DOI
Many ME/CFS patients report feeling feverish or chilled even when their body temperature is normal. This study used rats with chronic fatigue to understand what goes wrong with the body's temperature control system. Researchers found that in early fatigue, the body tried to raise its temperature to cope, but over time this system broke down and stopped working properly, which may explain why fatigue becomes long-lasting.
Temperature dysregulation is a frequent and bothersome symptom in ME/CFS patients. Understanding how the body's thermoregulatory system breaks down under chronic fatigue conditions may identify new therapeutic targets and validate a core complaint that has often been dismissed as psychosomatic.
This study in rats does not prove the same mechanism operates in humans with ME/CFS—animal models may not capture all aspects of human disease. It does not establish whether thermoregulatory dysfunction is a primary cause of ME/CFS or a consequence of other pathological processes. The study also cannot determine whether these changes are reversible with treatment.
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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