Steroid hormones are molecules made from cholesterol, typically in the ovaries, testes, and adrenal glands. They are incredibly important in the body, as they are involved in controlling metabolism and salt balance, in addition to reproductive development and function. 

In ME/CFS, changes in hormone levels may impact the development of the disease, as well as its severity. Further, some types of steroid hormones, sex hormones, may influence a person’s symptoms across the course of the menstrual cycle. As ME/CFS is a female predominant disease, cyclical fluctuations in these hormones may impact data collected during research studies and could play a role in how patients respond to treatments.

At the Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration, Dr. Armstrong and his team are interested in understanding how hormone fluctuations in people with ME/CFS and Long COVID impact metabolism and immune pathways. Read more about their project on tracking the menstrual cycle in ME/CFS and Long COVID (MELLOW) here.