Insights into biomedicine, 12 June 2017.

This was the main finding from an online study that compared people with ME/CFS with those suffering from multiple sclerosis – a disease that shares an overlap of several common symptoms including fatigue, and can be hard to distinguish, particularly at onset and prior to more thorough investigations.

It was a comparison study that recruited participants online and then asked them to complete the SF-36 – a questionnaire which measures physical function – and the more thorough DePaul Symptom Questionnaire (DPS).

People with ME/CFS were assessed against Fukuda and Canadian Criteria, but as this was a self-report and online study, no participant was assessed by a suitably qualified and experienced physician.

The study’s limitations were acknowledged by the authors in the full paper but even so, the results provide an illuminating comparison with a more accepted neurological – and autoimmune – disease.

Differentiating Multiple Sclerosis from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

 

Jason LA, Ohanian D, Brown A, Sunnquist M, McManimen S, Klebek L, Fox P and Sorenson M

College of Science and Health, DePaul University, USA