
Metabolism
Metabolism is the process by which the body turns food into energy, so it’s a critical component of overall health. There are two main types of metabolism: catabolism (breaking down macronutrients into simpler forms like glucose) and anabolism (building larger molecules from smaller units like proteins from amino acids).
There are a couple important ways metabolism is studied in ME/CFS. For one, the mitochondria play a central role in metabolism and there’s a growing body of evidence showing mitochondrial dysfunction in ME/CFS. Metabolomics is also an important way to study metabolism, trying to understand alterations in metabolism through changes in metabolite levels.
OMF’s Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration has particular expertise in metabolomics, incorporating it in many of their ME/CFS research studies. Learn more about their projects here.