"9 potential diagnostic tests for ME/CFS: Highlights of the IACFS submission to NIH RFI on new research strategies"
Though there are as yet no readily available, well-accepted, objective diagnostic tests for ME and CFS, work is ongoing in several key areas to develop one.
One objective measure, the 2-day CPET, is gaining acceptance and has been used with success in legal presentations. A drawback to this measure is its potential for harming patients.
And there are good subjective or self-reported diagnostic measures, though these are of limited value in clinical diagnosis.
In its response to the recent NIH solicitation for input into new research strategies for ME/CFS, the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (IACFS/ME) documented emerging opportunities, research needs, and continuing challenges, but in particular highlighted promising work on developing a diagostic test or biological marker
http://bit.ly/2aDxByh i.e.
https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/f.../rfi-healthcare-professionals-researchers.pdf
for the illness.
The IACFS/ME authors — Lily Chu, Fred Friedberg, Staci Stevens, Steve Krafchick, and Jon Kaiser — noted: “Some tests might not be suitable for clinical use but might provide a gold standard test for research purposes [and] may also provide clues to the pathophysiology of this disease and even to future treatments.”
