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What these illnesses are

Myth 1: ME/CFS and Long-COVID are made up (hypochondria)

Fact 1

ME/CFS and Long-COVID are very real illnesses and not psychosomatic (“in your head”).  

While there is not yet one, single, easy-to-measure and consistent biomarker to diagnose these illnesses, the symptoms of ME/CFS and Long-COVID are based on measurable, underlying biological abnormalities.

The biological abnormalities seen in people with ME/CFS or long-COVID affect multiple body systems, such as:

  • the immune system

  • the nervous system

  • the endocrine system

  • the metabolic system. 

These underlying abnormalities may impair the body’s ability to:

  • produce and use energy

  • regulate blood flow and oxygen delivery

  • respond to stressors.

…leading to the wide range of experienced symptoms.

Ongoing work to validate biomarkers include: 

The Special Issue “Biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)” by the journal Biomolecules

  • collecting original research and reviews on any aspect of biomarker identification or characterization for ME/CFS.

The ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Stanford University:

  • identifying molecular signatures of ME/CFS using advanced technologies such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and single-cell analysis.

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In News – medical, life sciences, a discussion of a study:

  • showing that four newly discovered biomarkers for Long-COVID boost prediction accuracy to 78.5%.

The Nature article

Distinguishing features of long COVID identified through immune profiling”:

  • uses immune phenotyping and machine learning to identify biological features associated with long-COVID.

An article in Molecular Medicine:

  • describes a study that used targeted proteomics and machine learning to identify novel blood biomarkers of long-COVID.​

Biomarker: measurable indicator of a biological state or condition, such as a blood test, a gene expression, or an imaging scan. 

Biomarkers can help diagnose a disease, monitor its progression, or evaluate its response to treatment.

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