A seven-year study of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS, done by the National Institutes of Health found physiological differences in brain activity, cardiorespiratory function, the immune system and the microbiome of people with ME/CFS compared to healthy study participants. The condition is often dismissed or misdiagnosed, but the research confirms that it’s “biological, not physical,” said lead research Dr. Avindra Nath, the chief of infections of the nervous system at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Long COVID often displays symptoms similar or identical to ME/CFS, which is why this research could provide clues to the condition. The study found that in patients with ME/CFS, there was chronic activation of the immune system, meaning it just kept fighting against a foreign microbe.
Nath said he believes that a piece of a pathogen stays in the body in both long COVID and ME/CFS, and the immune system is not able to deactivate. “Whatever we learn from ME/CFS will benefit long COVID patients, and whatever we learn from long Covid will benefit ME/CFS patients, I think,” Nath said.
However, some researchers advise caution in reviewing the findings. “They selected rather healthy patients,” said Dr. Carmen Scheibenbogen, a professor of immunology who was not on the research team. “I think there are a lot of interesting findings; it’s just disappointing because that was such a major approach and they selected patients which are not very representative.”
