About
Post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS) and ME/CFS are complex systemic diseases, the diagnosis of which presents a significant challenge given the lack of biomarkers and limited healthcare resources. A sufficiently broad differential diagnosis is still necessary to exclude other diseases with similar symptoms or to distinguish them as comorbidities.
Various potential pathomechanisms are currently being discussed and investigated. These include, among others, changes in the biomechanical properties of blood cells, alterations in the cellular and humoral immune status, vascular abnormalities, and dysregulation of various components of the nervous system. The analysis of these processes in patients with PAIS and/or ME/CFS as well as healthy controls is intended to improve the understanding of these diseases, enable an objective diagnosis, and open up new treatment options.
The aim of the Healthy Control Population für PAIS-ME/CFS (HelP) study, coordinated at the Munich Chronic Fatigue Center for Young People (MCFC), is to recruit a cohort of healthy children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 25 and to examine them using various established and innovative methods of investigation. This will enable comparative analyses of patients and healthy individuals of the same age, thus identifying potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of PAIS and ME/CFS. The control samples obtained in the project are also available to research projects of other working groups in Germany and internationally.
Description adapted from project website: see link above.
Not available.
Patients enrolled: Not available
Age group: 0 - 25 years (Children, Adults)