Heterogeneity
Heterogeneity is a way to describe when something is diverse or has different components to it. In the context of disease, it refers to when different people with that disease show different symptoms or have variable characteristics (e.g., risk factors, underlying mechanisms).
ME/CFS is known to be a very heterogeneous population, with different people showing different symptoms at different severity levels. This heterogeneity could stem from a large number of things, including different triggers, sex differences, illness duration, location, and much more.
Because of the heterogeneity of ME/CFS, precision medicine is a really important avenue of research into finding effective treatments. At OMF’s Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration, the team is exploring this approach in a project called Personalized Treatment Trials. Read more about this project here.
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