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A step closer to understanding chronic fatigue syndrome

Sadly, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is all too common and will often ‘stop’ people in their tracks. Fit individuals who were previously healthy will suddenly, after maybe just a minor viral illness, become severely fatigued. This can be so debilitating that individuals who had an active life can be almost confined to the four walls of their house.

The New Scientist reports on a study jointly undertaken between the University of Liverpool and Stellenbosch University in South Africa to explore one hypothesis that there may be a link between chronic fatigue and blood ‘micro clots’. Micro clots are small clumps of blood platelets, (the cells in the blood that help blood to clot) and have been seen in many inflammatory conditions such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease.

The team analysed blood form 25 adults who had been diagnosed with CFS for at least the past six months and compared those samples with individuals without CFS who were living in the same area.

They studied many different aspects of blood clotting and counted the number of micro clots present in each of the samples on a scale of 1 to 4 with 1 being no clot to 4 being significant levels.

The results showed that 80% of the people with CFS scored a 2 or higher, with half a 3 or 4. All those without CFS scored 1.

These micro clots also appear in people with long covid however the severity in the CFS patients was less than in long covid but on an equal measure to the other inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

The hypothesis is that such small clots block micro-blood vessels and reduce blood flow to the tissues, thus leading to fatigue. It’s an important result and points the way for further exploration and hopefully the possibility of an effective treatment for fatigue.