Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a result of differences in the blood of patients compared to their healthy counterparts, say experts.
The differences in blood was associated with chronic inflammation, insulin resistance and liver disease.
The innovative diagnosis comes from researchers at the University of Edinburgh. They studied more than 3,000 blood-based biomarkers.
This was the largest biological study conducted on ME/CFS which is estimated to impact around 50,000 people in Scotland.
Data from the UK Biobank was utilised for the research. This database contains data for more than half a million people.
The study compared 1,455 patients suffering from ME/CFS with 131,000 healthy individuals. There was 3:1 ratio of female to male patients.
Researchers said the results of the study were not influenced by activity levels.
The key symptom for people with ME/CFS is post-exertional malaise (PEM) — a sharp spike in fatigue after mild activity.
Pain, brain fog and tiredness that did not improve with rest were the other common symptoms.
The university team stated that the scale and consistency of these blood differences support their long‑term goal of creating a diagnostic blood test.
"For so long people with ME/CFS have been told it's all in their head. It's not. We see it in their blood" said professor Chris Ponting.
"One thing that our evidence points at is that ME is very much a condition in the blood. Perhaps previously held perspectives are not quite the case. It is really not due to inactivity and we hope that this helps with problems where individuals are disbelieved of their symptoms," added researcher Dr Sjoerd Beentjes.
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