Alternative medical interventions used in the treatment and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia

Porter NS, Jason LA

Published in Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Methodology

Systematic review of published studies (through 2009) of alternative medical interventions in ME/CFS and fibromyalgia, with narrative synthesis of design quality and outcomes.

Key Findings

Systematic review of 70 studies of complementary and alternative interventions in ME/CFS and fibromyalgia found the strongest supporting signals for magnesium, L-carnitine and S-adenosylmethionine, while homeopathy, massage and most botanical treatments had insufficient or conflicting evidence.

Conclusions

Magnesium, L-carnitine and SAMe show the most potential, but no firm conclusions can be drawn.

Limitations

Included studies were small, methodologically heterogeneous, often unblinded, and used inconsistent diagnostic criteria; no quantitative pooling was possible; publication bias likely.