Researchers say they have developed the world's first accurate blood test to diagnose ME/CFS

Researchers at the University of East Anglia say they have developed the world's first accurate blood test to diagnose ME.

They examined blood samples from 47 patients with severe ME/CFS and 61 healthy adults and discovered "a unique pattern" that appeared consistently in people with ME/CFS and not the healthy controls. From this, they developed the test and reported a 92% sensitivity (likelihood of a test being positive if that patient has the condition.

However, whilst acknowledging the research as an "interesting development" in biomarker research for ME/CFS, other researchers have offered cautionary responses to the results.

Prof Chris Ponting, Principal Investigator for DecodeME, has flagged the need for the test to be fully validated better-designed studies and said some of the claims made by the research team were "premature". He also referenced the likely expensive nature of the test - likely about £1,000.

You can read the full publication, here.

Action for ME comments

Action for ME share the view that this study does indeed appear encouraging and could prove to be a useful starting point for future research into blood-based diagnostic biomarkers.

It is also important to note that the researchers did highlight the limitations of the research, calling it a "proof of concept" study.

As such, we note the following:

• The study was conducted with a very small sample size and as such, results may not generalise to the broader and more diverse population.
• Also, as pointed out by the researchers, diagnostic blood tests must be highly sensitive and specific to the condition they are testing for.
• There is currently a lack of evidence regarding the mechanisms that cause ME and so cause/effect cannot be determined.
• The control group were healthy cases and given the overlaps between ME and other conditions, a robust diagnostic test must be able to distinguish ME from similar illnesses - not just "healthy people".

Given these limitations, further research into this area of diagnostics is required before we can conclusively say that we do have an accurate blood test for diagnosing ME.