Brain dysfunction as one cause of CFS symptoms including difficulty with attention and concentration

Abstract

We have been able to reduce substantially patient pool heterogeneity by identifying phenotypic markers that allow the researcher to stratify chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients into subgroups. To date, we have shown that stratifying based on the presence or absence of comorbid psychiatric diagnosis leads to a group with evidence of neurological dysfunction across a number of spheres. We have also found that stratifying based on the presence or absence of comorbid fibromyalgia leads to information that would not have been found on analyzing the entire, unstratified patient group. Objective evidence of orthostatic intolerance (OI) may be another important variable for stratification and may define a group with episodic cerebral hypoxia leading to symptoms. We hope that this review will encourage other researchers to collect data on discrete phenotypes in CFS to allow this work to continue more broadly. Finding subgroups of CFS suggests different underlying pathophysiological processes responsible for the symptoms seen. Understanding those processes is the first step toward developing discrete treatments for each.

The many roads to mitochondrial dysfunction in neuroimmune and neuropsychiatric disorders

“…Such disparate often conflicting findings, between and within cohorts, are typical of studies investigating the existence of diverse neuropathology (review [ 1 ]). These and other lines of evidence strongly argue that a diagnosis of CFS does not represent a unitary illness with a single pathogenesis and pathophysiology but rather represents a spectrum of illnesses where different pathophysiological processes converge to produce a very similar phenotype [ 214 - 217 ]. This is a core issue across neurobiology, where diagnoses, in the absence of coherent knowledge of pathophysiology, are made on the basis of symptomatology.…”

Grey and white matter differences in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – A voxel-based morphometry study

“…Brain imaging studies in CFS suggest alterations in brain structure and function in at least subgroups of CFS patients (Natelson, 2013). Previous studies on volumetric brain differences in CFS are scarce and have produced inconsistent findings.…”

“…Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a chronic condition of unclear aetiology that is characterised by a variety of diverse symptoms such as chronic, disabling fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, post-exertional malaise, muscle pains and reduced cognitive performance. Brain imaging studies in CFS suggest alterations in brain structure and function in at least subgroups of CFS patients ( Natelson, 2013 ). Previous studies on volumetric brain differences in CFS are scarce and have produced inconsistent findings.…”

Coadministration of Resveratrol and Rice Oil Mitigates Nociception and Oxidative State in a Mouse Fibromyalgia-Like Model

“…The involvement of oxidative stress has been related to the symptom of fatigue [ 57 ], a coexistent symptom in addition to widespread pain in FM patients. Some researchers investigated the role of oxidative stress in the pathological processes underlying FM.…”