Brain dysfunction may underpin Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a debilitating condition that has seen increased prevalence during the pandemic. Until now, research has offered little hope for patients or the medical professionals treating them in terms of resuming normal daily activities. This is largely due to a lack of scientific understanding about what causes the disease, which affects multiple body systems and manifests as extreme fatigue, leaving many individuals bedridden.
Recently, a large-scale, multi-million dollar government study has shed light on key understandings about ME/CFS. The findings were published in Nature Communications. A major discovery was that study participants had reduced activity in a region of the brain called the temporo-parietal junction, which could induce fatigue by disrupting how the brain decides to exert effort.
The study also found that participants had changes in their spinal fluid that could have made them less able to move. The abnormal spinal fluid could also explain changes in cognitive abilities and the body's response to exertion. One of the most challenging aspects of ME/CFS is that fatigue worsens after activity.
Approximately 1 in 100 adults in the US suffer from ME/CFS, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, based on responses from a national survey conducted in 2021 and 2022. The likelihood of being diagnosed with ME/CFS increases as people age, but stabilizes between the ages of 60 and 69. Fewer people are newly diagnosed with this condition after reaching the age of 70.
A recent analysis published by the CDC estimated that people are four times more likely to develop chronic fatigue after having COVID-19, compared to people who did not have COVID. It was previously discovered that ME/CFS is most often diagnosed after a person has an infection that the body struggles to overcome, instead continuing its immune response.
This latest investigation into ME/CFS was a massive project. More than 70 authors are listed on the 70-page manuscript in Nature Communications, and the study took 8 years and cost over 8 million dollars.
"People with ME/CFS have very real and disabling symptoms, but discovering their biological basis has been extremely difficult," said Walter Koroshetz, MD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at NIH. "This in-depth study of a small group of people found a number of factors that likely contribute to ME/CFS. Now, researchers can test whether these findings apply to a larger group of patients and can advance towards identifying treatments that target the underlying factors of the disease."