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At Environmental Illness Resource Network, I am dedicated to promoting environmental health and wellness through education, advocacy and community outreach. This place is meant to be a portal where health professionals and patients can come together and share information, research and personal experiences of environmental illnesses. It uses social media, artificial intelligence and communication to achieve these goals.
Environmental Illness Resource Network
Environmental Illness Resource Network
Discover the latest research, resources, and lifestyle tips for managing environmental illnesses like MECFS, MCS, and fibromyalgia. Our health and wellness blog provides in-depth information to help you navigate these complex conditions. To explore what else is new, the menu located on the top of the pages of the website can direct you to information that is provided in this website.
Study highlight
Study Highlight
Replicated blood-based biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis not explicable by inactivity
The article titled "Replicated blood-based biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis not explicable by inactivity" explores the identification of reliable blood-based biomarkers for diagnosing myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a debilitating and often misunderstood condition. The study addresses a major challenge in ME/CFS research: distinguishing disease-specific biomarkers from those influenced by patients' typically low physical activity levels. Using advanced statistical methods and large-scale datasets from the UK Biobank and the All-of-Us cohort, the researchers analyzed thousands of molecular and cellular traits. They found hundreds of significant differences between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls, with many biomarkers indicating chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver dysfunction. Importantly, these differences could not be attributed to reduced physical activity, as only one of over 3,000 traits was significantly mediated by activity levels. The study also found that individuals experiencing post-exertional malaise—a hallmark symptom of ME/CFS—showed even stronger biomarker signals. While no single biomarker could definitively distinguish patients from controls, the findings support the potential for a future diagnostic panel based on a combination of blood-based markers
The implications of the study "Replicated blood-based biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis not explicable by inactivity" are significant for both clinical practice and future research into ME/CFS:
- Toward a Diagnostic Test: The identification of hundreds of blood-based biomarkers that differ significantly between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls—independent of physical activity levels—brings the field closer to developing a reliable diagnostic test. This is crucial for a disease that currently lacks objective diagnostic criteria
1. - Validation Across Cohorts: The replication of key findings in both the UK Biobank and the All-of-Us cohort strengthens the reliability of these biomarkers. This cross-cohort validation addresses a major limitation in previous ME/CFS studies, which often suffered from small sample sizes and poor reproducibility
1. - Biological Insights: The biomarkers point to underlying biological processes such as chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver dysfunction. These findings may help reframe ME/CFS as a systemic biological illness rather than a psychosomatic or purely fatigue-related condition
1. - Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM): The study found that individuals with PEM—a core symptom of ME/CFS—exhibited even stronger biomarker signals. This supports the clinical relevance of PEM and may help refine diagnostic criteria and subtyping of the disease
1. Sjoerd Viktor Beentjes et al 2025 EMBO Press www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44321-025-00258-8
