Magherini, Francesca, Fiaschi, Tania, Marzocchini, Riccardo et al. · Free radical research · 2019 · DOI
When we exercise, our bodies produce harmful molecules called free radicals that can damage cells. While some free radicals are normal and needed for muscle function, too many can cause problems. This review explains how intense exercise, stress, and not eating enough can create excessive free radicals and inflammation, which might lead to chronic fatigue and overtraining syndrome—conditions where the body cannot recover properly from exercise.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS because it identifies a plausible biological mechanism—oxidative stress and hormonal dysregulation—that could explain post-exertional malaise and the worsening of symptoms after physical activity. Understanding how exercise intensity, energy balance, and inflammatory responses interact may help inform safe activity levels for ME/CFS patients and guide future therapeutic strategies.
This is a theoretical review, not an empirical study, so it does not provide direct experimental evidence that oxidative stress causes CFS in humans. The abstract does not establish causation, describe specific patient populations studied, or provide quantitative data comparing CFS patients to controls. The mechanisms described are largely inferred from exercise physiology literature and may not fully apply to the post-viral or idiopathic origins of ME/CFS.
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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