Marks, David F · Biomedicines · 2023 · DOI
This study found that ME/CFS and long COVID (PASC) cause very similar symptoms in patients. Researchers compared symptom reports from two groups and found they matched about 90% of the time. The authors suggest both conditions may involve the body's control systems (nervous system, hormones, and immune system) getting stuck in a broken state, similar to a thermostat that can't turn off.
Identifying shared pathophysiological mechanisms between ME/CFS and PASC could accelerate research into both conditions and validate patient experiences across different illness etiologies. Understanding that these conditions involve broken homeostatic regulation rather than simple fatigue may shift clinical approaches and treatment strategies. This work strengthens the argument for ME/CFS as a legitimate biological disorder.
This study does not prove that ME/CFS and PASC share identical underlying causes—only that symptoms overlap substantially. The dyshomeostasis hypothesis remains theoretical and is not directly tested or proven by this analysis. Correlation between symptom profiles does not establish the specific mechanisms of dysregulation proposed, nor does it definitively explain why symptoms fluctuate.
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 →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →