It is important to do this test on all patients.

POTS is poorly treatable and more often success in treatment presently escapes physicians’ ability. Eventually, I have no doubt that these will be treatable causes of M.E. type disease. However there is a significant group of M.E. patients who are ill due to a treatable form of vasculitis and can be treated if the physician takes the time to diagnose the subgroup. These patients are the clotting defect patients. Some of these clotting defects are genetic and some appear to be genetic with an age or viral switching mechanism, as I have mentioned elsewhere with Ehlers Danlos Syndromes; although they may develop in childhood, they are more frequently noted well after puberty and before the age of 40.

Many of these patients can be diagnosed by the following tests:

(1) Serum viscosity test,

(2) Antiphospholipid Ab.,

(3) Protein C defects,

(4) Protein S defects,

(5) Factor V Leiden defect,

to name the most common that we have uncovered.However, there are others for which we also test. These conditions are all potentially treatable and when treated adequately may allow the patient to return to school or work. Although any physician can order these tests, a haematologist should review all M.E. patients for these and other possible clotting anomalies. Most clotting defects are treatable and treatment has resulted in recovery in some cases. Remember M.E. is essentially a problem of microcirculation and any improvement in this area can have dramatically positive effects. It is well worthwhile for all physicians reading this definition who have an interest in M.E. to examine the Internet for Hughes Syndrome. Curiously, Hughes Syndrome was first outlined in St. Thomas’ Hospital London, the home of the Nightingale School of Nursing. Hughes Syndrome, a vascular syndrome also called Sticky Blood Syndrome, closely parallels the definition of M.E.

Source: http://www.nightingale.ca/documents/Nightingale_ME_Definition_en.pdf