According to researchers, they have found that immunological dysfunction results in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which means that it is a biological illness. Before this, physicians thought that CFS is not a biological disorder and is a complicated psychological disorder.

Mady Hornig, director of translational research at the Center for Infection and Immunity and lead author of the study, said, "We now have evidence confirming that CFS is not psychological. Our results should accelerate the process of establishing the diagnosis after individuals first fall ill as well as discovery of new treatment strategies focusing on these early blood markers".

The study published in the journal Science Advances had included 298 patients who were suffering from CFS about with 348 healthy controls. After that, they collected blood plasma samples from the patients. To perform the study, the researchers used methods of immunoassay testing to find 51 immune biomarkers' levels in blood plasma samples. During the study, the researchers identified distinct immunological changes in CFS patients.

According to the researchers, they discovered exact patterns in patients who were suffering from the disease from last three years or less. Those patterns were not present in patients that had suffered from the disease for longer than three years. The researchers found that patients suffering from the disease for three years or less had increased amounts of many different types of immune molecules, known as cytokines.

W. Ian Lipkin, researcher from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and senior author of the study, said the new study has revealed what has eluded physicians for a long time. The study has shown the evidence of immunological dysfunction in CFS and diagnostic biomarkers for disease, Lipkin added.

According to the study, chronic fatigue syndrome is actually a biological condition and not psychological disorder. The study could alter how the disease is treated by physicians in the future.