Volgens een recente studie van Elizabeth Attree, Christine Dancey, Megan Aroll en collega's

van het Chronic Illness Research Team van de Universiteit van East-Londen

heeft een cognitieve test een langdurig negatief effect op "vermoeidheid" en depressieve gevoelens.

Zoals eerder betoogd, zou het goed zijn symptomen etc. te objectiveren.

We moeten als het even kan af van subjectieve begrippen zoals "vermoeidheid".

Daartoe zou de cognitieve test na 8-24 uur herhaald moeten worden en

zouden de scores van de eerste testen vergeleken kunnen worden met de tweede score.

En dat is precies wat deze groep van plan is (bron: persoonlijke correspondentie).

The delayed fatigue effect in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior. 2014; 2(2): 57-63. doi: 10.1080/21641846.2014.892755.

Arroll MA, Attree EA, O'Leary JM, Dancey CP.

Background:

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

is a debilitating, long-term condition

characterised by extreme fatigue (worsened by exertion),

muscle and joint pain, and sleep disturbance.

Post-exertional fatigue has been demonstrated previously following physical exercise,

but not from mental exertion alone.

Purpose:

The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the 'delayed fatigue effect',

in this instance fatigue two days post-challenge,

following a cognitively fatiguing task.

Methods:

Thirty-two participants

(223 women; mean age 44, SD = 11.24;

mean illness duration nine years, SD = 7.32)

completed the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery,

which acted as the cognitive challenge.

Self-report measures were also completed that assessed

fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory; MFI), and anxiety and

depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS)

pre- and two days post-testing.

Results:

Significant differences were found

between pre- and post-test measures in

three MFI sub-scales of fatigue (general, mental, and physical) and

on the depression scale of the HADS.

However, there were

no significant changes in motivation, activity level, or self-reported anxiety scores.

Conclusions:

These findings are suggestive of

post-exertional symptom exacerbation following mental effort.

This may have implications for working environments

that present cognitive demands to individuals with ME/CFS.

Keywords

Myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome,

post-exertional fatigue, delayed fatigue effect, cognitive challenge

http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FpRbGsxjYk85hgNwMpYf/full#.U1-U7Pl_t8E

Met dank aan prof. Miwa.