Millions of people are affected by the debilitating exhaustion and brain fog that characterizes the long-term condition chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis. Although CFS has been connected to viral infections including COVID-19, the underlying cause of the disease remains unknown.
Now, a study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health that was published February 8 in Cell is offering new insights that link the condition’s unexplained fatigue symptoms with changes in gut microbe composition. This work suggests the health-promoting gut bacterium Faecalibacterium prausnitzii strongly may reduce exhaustion in individuals with CFS.
It’s a surprising finding, Brent L. Williams, an epidemiologist at Columbia University and senior author of the paper, tells The Scientist in an email. Although deficiency in F. prausnitzii has been associated with a range of health conditions including Crohn’s disease and psoriasis, he explains, CFS has widely varying symptoms, so ...
