Turgeon, S A · Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 1989
This review article examines what was known about ME/CFS in 1989, a time when the condition was still poorly understood. The authors note that while some initially thought the Epstein-Barr virus (which causes mononucleosis) might cause ME/CFS, that theory no longer seems correct. They found evidence that both psychiatric factors and subtle immune system problems may play a role in the illness.
This early review is historically important for understanding how ME/CFS research evolved and why initial viral hypotheses were eventually questioned. It documents the shift toward recognizing that ME/CFS likely involves both immune and psychological components, which remains relevant to current multisystemic research approaches.
This review does not prove what causes ME/CFS, nor does it establish the relative contribution of psychiatric versus immunological factors. As a literature review from 1989, it reflects outdated knowledge and cannot address modern findings about post-viral sequelae, metabolic dysfunction, or neuroinflammation discovered in subsequent decades.
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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