Patients with CFS do not score higher on the autism-spectrum quotient than controls

[Murph]

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome do not score higher on the autism-spectrum quotient than healthy controls: Comparison with autism spectrum disorder.
Bileviciute-Ljungar I1,2, Maroti D1, Bejerot S3.
Author information
Abstract
Clinically, there is an overlap of several symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including fatigue; brain "fog"; cognitive impairments; increased sensitivity to sound, light, and odour; increased pain and tenderness; and impaired emotional contact.

Adults with CFS (n = 59) or ASD (n = 50) and healthy controls (HC; n = 53) were assessed with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a cross-sectional study. Non-parametric analysis was used to compare AQ scores among the groups. Univariate analysis of variance (ANCOVA) was used to identify if age, sex, or diagnostic group influenced the differences in scores.

Patients with ASD scored significantly higher on the AQ than the CFS group and the HC group. No differences in AQ scores were found between the CFS and HC groups. AQ results were influenced by the diagnostic group but not by age or sex, according to ANCOVA.

Despite clinical observations of symptom overlap between ASD and CFS, adult patients with CFS report few autistic traits in the self-report instrument, the AQ. The choice of instrument to assess autistic traits may influence the results.

 

[alex3619]

Interesting.

 

[Tally]

Did anyone ever think we exibited any signs of ASD??

Even if it's the exact same mechanism, getting it while brain is still developing in infancy and as a fully formed brain would obviously be two completely different things.

 

[alex3619]

Did anyone ever think we exibited any signs of ASD??

Even if it's the exact same mechanism, getting it while brain is still developing in infancy and as a fully formed brain would obviously be two completely different things.

Many of us have seen some symptoms, but its not been clear its the same. I was once asked if I was an Aspie.

 

[hamsterman]

Boy. I'm shocked that this was ever a 'thing'. Well, I'm glad that they can at least cross this off their list.

 

[Pink]

I have often wondered why so many articles I see online discuss cfs and autism .

 

[brenda]

Having both, l have noticed that other cfs'ers do not have my social imparement, though we share neurological damage. The endo and immune dysfunction are not generally found in asd.

 

[anni66]

Interesting i know quite a few parents with kids with ME who are high functioning aspies. Not picked up til after ME. Usually female adolescents . Female autism seems to sit differently on spectrum .

 

[mariovitali]

@anni66

I second that, although cannot make a connection especially for females. I have two cousins who are High functioning Aspies.


I know many other ME/CFS patients having family members with Asperger's but not Autism.

 

[Tally]

I have often wondered why so many articles I see online discuss cfs and autism .

This research and those articles are two separate things.

Dr. Naviaux has a theory about cell danger response. But that theory connects ME/CFS and Autism on a cellular level. He never claimed we exibit similar symptoms.

I do find it interesting that impaired temperature regulation, sensory overload etc. are shared, but core symptom PEM in ME/CFS, and "deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities" in Autism are absolutely not.

To give out questionnaires and expect people with ME/CFS to score in any way similar to people on AS is just silly in my opinion. People with ME/CFS have impaired emotional contact? Since when? It's an insult to struggles people with ASD experience, just like it's an insult to compare our level of fatigue to theirs.

I know many other ME/CFS patients having family members with Asperger's but not Autism.

Asperger's is now considered to be an ASD too.

 

[anni66]

Check out Rich v K' s thoughts - ties the low glutathione ( and subsequent ROS) to both cfs and autism

 

[mariovitali]

Asperger's is now considered to be an ASD too.

Thank you for pointing this out, you are right :


From wikipedia :

In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published in May 2013,[24] AS, as a separate diagnosis, was eliminated and folded into autism spectrum disorder.[25] Like the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome,[26] the change was controversial[26][27] and AS was not removed from the WHO's ICD-10.

so there are some questions as to whether AS should have been added under ASD. My main concern is whether these subtle changes on the different subtypes can be/were accounted for in this Research

 

[Tally]

My main concern is whether these subtle changes on the different subtypes can be/were accounted for in this Research

It doesn't matter really. People with ME/CFS don't exibit symptoms of Asperger's nor Autism. If they do then they simply have both illnesses.

I can imagine how someone not familiar with both illnesses could mistake our inability to hold conversation for long, our social isolation, our avoiding eye-contact to be similar to autistic traits, but they are there just because we don't have energy to do them. We WANT those things, we know how to, we are just too tired.

We avoid social interaction for the same reason we avoid climbing stairs. It's not that way in ASD.

Edit: for anyone wondering if they might have ASD here's an online test to get a rough idea https://psychology-tools.com/autism-spectrum-quotient/

Disclaimer
We are not medical or psychiatric professionals. The information provided on this website is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The assessments on this website are not intended to diagnose any disease or condition and should not be solely relied on, even by mental health or health care professionals, for this or any similar purpose.

No one other than a trained mental health professional can diagnose or treat a psychological condition.

 

[panckage]

Even if it's the exact same mechanism, getting it while brain is still developing in infancy and as a fully formed brain would obviously be two completely different things.

I think this fits my experience I work with autistic kids occasionally and when my symptoms are bad I feel that the cognitive impairment/overstimulation feels exactly what the autistic kids are experiencing

That being said while my conscience brain is pretty much useless when I am in this bad state, I can still function off of behaviors learned when I had a healthy functioning brain. This is missing item that people with autism will never be able to rely on. When I am bad however my ability to learn new things is pretty much exactly matches that of the autistic kids I have worked with.

When I am managing my illness better (and am at a lower severity) however I don't feel the symptoms are all that autism like