Mehendale, Anand W, Goldman, Mark P · Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2002 · DOI
This review summarizes what scientists and doctors know about fibromyalgia and ME/CFS by examining research from the past 25 years. The authors looked at studies on symptoms, causes, blood test findings, brain imaging, and what patients reported about their experiences. They propose that these conditions may need to be understood in an entirely new way.
This comprehensive review helps establish that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia are recognized medical conditions with measurable biological abnormalities—not psychological disorders. By consolidating multiple lines of evidence, it provides a foundation for understanding these conditions and supporting the need for new research directions and treatment approaches.
This review does not establish the specific causes of ME/CFS or fibromyalgia, nor does it prove that any single biomarker definitively explains these syndromes. As a synthesis of existing literature rather than a primary research study, it cannot prove causation for any proposed mechanisms and does not replace controlled clinical trials.
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 →